Cross posted from My Silver State.
Yesterday, I wrote about the latest U.S. soldier to die in Iraq. Today, we learn that 19-year-old Army Spc. Travis M. Virgadamo of Las Vegas took his own life:
The death of a 19-year-old Las Vegas Army infantryman by his own hand last week inspired words of sorrow and comfort Tuesday from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who reiterated his call to end the Iraq war.
“We have heard countless examples of our troops receiving inadequate mental health care being sent back into battle like this young man, Pfc. Travis Virgadamo,” Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor.
“My heart goes out to his family,” said Reid, whose father committed suicide. “That’s what they said when he was trying to stay here, not go back. They suffered so much. We owe them a change of course. Many of my Republican friends have long held September is the month for policy change in Iraq.”
Travis M. Virgadamo, like so many other soldiers, suffered mentally while in Iraq and when he was back home. According to his mother, the army prescribed him Prozac and he received some counseling:
During a visit to his family in Pahrump in July, Virgadamo shared the horrors he experienced during recent service in the war, including being ordered to go into houses not knowing what was inside, narrowly surviving missile attacks , being in a vehicle accident , and walking along roadsides fearing he would step on land mines.
And after the Prozac and the counseling what did they do? They sent him back:
He received more counseling in late July before he returned to Iraq, his family said.
God knows how many of the soldiers in Iraq are suffering mentally and are still forced to stay in Iraq or go back to Iraq. It’s a shame and a disgrace.
It is hight time for Congress to finally set a date for pullout. And we need to make sure that the soldiers and veterans are better taken care off, now and after withdrawal.
The services for Travis M. Virgadamo are scheduled for Monday. Details here.
We’ll keep his family in our thoughts and prayers.
