After guardsman son's suicide, parents work to save others
Army Times
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
April 8, 2014
Former Army National Guard Sgt. Daniel Somers served as a turret gunner and tactical human intelligence team member during two deployments to Iraq.
His parents, Dr. Howard and Jean Somers, say Daniel was bright and talented, a songwriter and musician who studied Arabic and could argue nearly any issue.
But the California guardsman carried demons from his service, having had a hand in deeds he described in a note to his family as “war crimes, crimes against humanity”: civilians who died in his crossfire, of Iraqis interrogated under his watch.
“Though I did not participate willingly ... there are some things that a person simply cannot come back from,” he wrote.
Somers sought help from the Veterans Affairs Department for post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury — the overbearing guilt, sorrow and anger some troops feel after participating in, witnessing or failing to prevent acts that conflict with one’s own moral beliefs.
But as a guardsman, Somers’ status was in limbo. And once eligible for VA care, he fell victim to an antiquated appointment system, missing notifications. When he finally gained access, he was offered only group therapy, not the one-on-one counseling he felt he needed.
On June 10, Somers ended his life, leaving behind a suicide note his parents published online:
“Too trapped in a war to be at peace, too damaged to be at war ... not only am I better off dead, but the world is better without me in it,” he wrote.
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