Have A Great Day! (18 Veterans Will Kill Themselves Today)

It's Tuesday May 13, 2008 and on this day in history, The Beatles debuted the movie Let It Be in 1970 and back in 1943 German and Italian forces surrendered in Africa but that's nothing compared to what we have for you today.

Right now, it's 7:30 am here in Seattle and 10:30 back in Washington DC where as far as I can tell, not one elected official has thought today about the fact that by now, two or three, maybe more, young American men and women who served their country in Iraq and Afghanistan have killed themselves.

Some may have used a gun and pulled the trigger when they couldn't take the pain or the wait of up to six months that they are told to wait before seeing a mental health specialist. Some may use pills or drive their car into a wall. Some will slit their wrists.

All our brave young and women we as a nation have failed to serve with a hint of the honor and courage that they served us.

I am embarrassed at how little I have done to help them. Here's a few places I found that are trying to help. Places like Veterans For America. Or the PTSD NewsLadder (learn more about what it is and the challenges those suffering face.)

So what else is going on today?

There's a lot of important stuff happening on Capitol Hill today. Here's what I found on the Senate Public Calendar -- well, let's just say today and yesterday won't go down as the busiest day on the hill. 6 hours of work yesterday guys? Solid effort.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

10:00 a.m.: Convene and resume consideration of S.2284, the Flood Insurance bill.

Previous Meeting

Monday, May 12, 2008

The Senate convened at 2:00 p.m. and adjourned at 8:00 p.m. No record votes were taken.

President Bush is, well, not doing much, just talking about his daughter's wedding.

18 men and women a day, that's what we're averaging, some days may be light, maybe today will be a light one. But then again, maybe yesterday was a light one and today the average will be brought back up.

They're killing themselves in Massachusetts and Florida. They're killing themselves in West Virginia where the primary is today. They're killing themselves in Denver where the Democrats will have their convention and in Minneapolis where the Republicans will gather. There are more kids dying here than there are in Iraq. How that can be, I don't completely understand but it's true.

Bob Graham said back in 2002 as he addressed his fellow Senators, if you don't read the classified intelligence report there will be blood on your hands. At 18 a day, let me see, in just under six days, we could cover all the US Senators in blood. Now, I understand that not all of the veterans are from Iraq and Afghanistan but since the Pentagon won't release how many, we have to presume a lot are -- and whether they fought now, or in Vietnam, or Korea or someplace in between, we should be shamed.

The weather looks good out here in Seattle. One of the headlines is about the Smoothie Race heating up in Seattle.

But I suppose somewhere here, there is a young veteran who feels he can't go on. Maybe he's one of the thousands suffering from mental health issues, maybe he can't face going back to Iraq again (some units have been deployed three or even four times now.) Imagine the hell that lets you survive war but not peace.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen.

A mother gets the news. A spouse hears a noise in another room. A child comes home from school. A dog barks. A neighborhood sits in stunned. A reporter tries to cover the story.

If you have you ever seen a flag taken from a coffin, folded and handed to the family, you know it seems to take a surreal amount of time. Have you ever seen that? Or heard taps play on a cold morning?

Eighteen times?