Candidates, veterans and family members will gather Saturday, October 29 at 10:45 AM in the Cedar Creek Room in the Vermont State House to draw attention to the problem of suicide and opioid addiction among Vermont veterans.
Candidates include Gerald Malloy (GOP-U.S. Senate), a retired U.S. Army officer; Ericka Redic (Libertarian-U.S. Congress), who is in longtime recovery from substance abuse; J.T. Dodge (Republican-Vermont Senate from Caledonia County), and Jarrod Sammis (Vermont House of Representatives from Castleton).
The Veterans Administration announced recently that nationally, veteran suicides have fallen from the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. However, a new analysis released Saturday by independent researchers suggests that the number of deaths may be significantly higher – more than double the VA’s estimate when death certificate and record errors, drug overdoses, and unexplained deaths are all taken into account.
The plight of veterans at risk of suicide took center stage – briefly – in late July when a veteran with mental problems tried to force his way into the home of his neighbor, Vermont Commissioner of Labor Michael Harrington. After David Young was briefly placed under observation at a local hospital, he was released because he couldn’t be held against his will under state law. He then went home and shot himself to death.