This was recently sent to me by a brave female soldier who I'm kept in touch with since NKM2's Stomp the Stigma Tour in Iraq. I wanted to share this with you all. -LJ

Hi Lisa, hope that you're doing well.

Not to dampen your day but thought you should be aware that we just had a senior officer commit suicide the other day here in Iraq who just arrived several weeks prior, such a disappointment. Oftentimes as leaders, we push to check on the young Soldiers and fail to check on the senior leadership. Leaders are great at disguising and hiding stress and fear, we have to be b/c we have to "appear" in control. Common fallacy in our ranks between you and me.

This is my second combat tour and have sought counseling in the past due to some intense situations that I was in during my deployment to Afghanistan several years ago. I commanded over 200 Soldiers during that deployment and unfortunately lost several, which I at times took very personally. I'm glad that I went to the counseling because I didn't realize just how severe the situation can get if you ignore the problems. Additionally, an incident occurred with my family that caused serious distress on them during that deployment and has had significant impacts on how we live our lives.

Anyhow, I've recorded many of my thoughts over the last few years and have decided to touch on these areas of depression, leadership, family, our military culture, our country, etc. by putting a manuscript together. I hope that it will provide deep insight to many in our country and to my fellow service members about what it means to serve and what sacrifices are made in doing so. It also depicts how there is hope throughout depression, sacrifices, and hardships. I made it and I know others can as well.

Although difficult sometimes, the environment that I'm in right now is allowing me to refine my thoughts and translate them into this story, which I'm trying to have finished by the end of the year.

Again, thanks for all that you, Joe, and Dr. Bob do. It does make a HUGE difference for our servicemembers and our Nation!

Take care,

(Name Omitted for Privacy)

Tags: Iraq Soldier Military Suicide PTSD

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