I was shocked and dismayed by Howard Kurtz's unprofessional and closed-minded comments on his Reliable Sources show on CNN today regarding the coverage of the Boston bombing suspects. Neither of the well-researched articles in today's New York Times and Washington Post are claiming that...

Veteran military writer Tom Ricks posted an important blog on his Best Defense column in Foreign Policy. Researchers Dr. Frank Tortorello and Dr. William Marcellino, sponsored by the Marine Corps' Training and Education Command and Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning, did something novel. They listened to Marines,...

On March 12, I posted about Clay Hunt's suicide, covered on 60 Minutes. Now in testimony to Congress by the Pentagon's Defense Suicide Prevention Office, the thesis in my blog may be receiving confirmation. Jackie Garrick, acting director, and Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, Army deputy chief...

The 60 Minutes piece last Sunday on the life and death of Clay Hunt, a Marine who earned a Purple Heart serving in the Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, demonstrated how much we have yet to learn about the epidemic of suicide in our returning troops and veterans....

What heals heavy trauma and loss? I watched the scenes from Newtown: people hugging, comforting, supporting one another. Connecting. We all witnessed and experienced the sudden shock and the utter helplessness. The shearing loss of loved ones and of meaning. And then people came together again, at the interfaith ceremony....

Part One

Loved the film, but this here isn't a movie. The characters are not foreign terrorists we can track down and eliminate. This crisis defies simplistic analyses. We have met the enemy and he is indeed us. Month by month, year by year, we have become a culture of...

We live in a culture of distraction. We text while walking, our heads buried in our phones, eyes fixed on a tiny screen, music beating in our ears, we plod along and into others. What's meant to improve efficiency and connect us often does neither. I especially like the guy...

Part One

On the first evening of a Coming Home retreat, a former Marine officer told the group that someone had stolen his TV. I was worried for a moment but then everyone burst into laughter and I caught on. No TV in the rooms? Yikes!

We're taught that...

There is a powerful article in this week's New Yorker by reporter Dexter Filkins tracing the intersections, tragic and redemptive, among the lives of Filkins, Lu Lobello, a marine who served in Iraq, and the Kachadoorian family, Armenian Christians living in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam...

In his recent blog, A Better Way Forward, Rep. Miller, Chairman, House Veterans Affairs Committee, raises several important points regarding the care we provide our veterans. First and foremost, he asks us to go outside our comfort zone and keep an "open mind." Here are a few...

What approaches truly support veteran wellness and healing from the ravages of war? In a New York Times blog, Tina Rosenberg describes some current "alternative" therapies for post-traumatic operational stress injuries. The name of the blog, "Fixes," is unfortunate for an article like this. Why? Because there is...

We all know the story of the Three Little Pigs: The house made of bricks proved to be the strongest. The flagship DoD facilities built by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Tex.,
and the National Intrepid...

There's been a lot of talk lately about post-traumatic growth. Why should post-traumatic stress and all the accompanying angst be the only game in town? It is possible to grow through trauma; right? Yes and ... well, here goes. There is a tendency to say to people who are suffering...

In a recent study, the most frequent reason soldiers gave for attempting suicide was ... intense emotional pain. This has profound implications and, at the same time, it's the kind of thing that gives psychological research a bad name. I can understand somebody responding: "And mountains are tall...

The cover of this week's Time magazine is dramatic: "One a Day." Every day one military service member commits suicide. The stories are heart wrenching. The two keys that emerge are overcoming stigma and adequate treatment resources. A new bill authored by Senator Patty Murray, the Mental Health...

Today it's critical for our returning troops and veterans to get good jobs and to utilize their experience in military service to make the significant contributions they can. Likewise for military spouses. But as important as getting a job is, I'm not sure we take the time to consider the...

He was remote and suspicious, and I could feel how depressed he was.

A heavy set Iraq veteran, he came with his wife, who stayed close at all times. But he was not emotionally responsive to her, or to anyone for that matter. On the third evening of the...

In my last blog, I summarized the key needs that emerged during the Robin Hood Foundation's May 7 Veterans' Summit in New York. Here I want to tease out some obstacles to responding effectively to those needs that can elude even the most firmly committed. I've learned about...

On May 7, 2012 the Robin Hood Foundation, the largest private funder of anti-poverty programs, sponsored an important gathering aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City. The highlight was an interview with Salvatore Giunta, veteran of the war in Afghanistan and Medal of...

Stephanie's husband, Michael, returned from Iraq in body, but he was plagued by unrecognized post traumatic stress. After six months stateside, he committed suicide. Stephanie's church, their main support system, uncharacteristically condemned him and shunned her.

Stephanie felt both isolated and blameworthy, a toxic brew which did not help...