Retired Soldier Who Died Christmas Day Committed Suicide, Husband Contends

[Bruce Monkhouse]

This is the kind of story that makes you go 'hmmmmmm'.
Of course a large part of me is just screamin' mad that, if true, she would have had no qualms about taking others with her.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Retired+soldier+died+Christmas+committed+suicide+husband/9365613/story.html

TORONTO - The husband of a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who died in a head-on collision in Alberta on Christmas Day says his wife’s death was a suicide.

Tom MacEachern told CTV News his 51-year-old wife, retired corporal Leona MacEachern, was being treated for post traumatic stress disorder and had been allowed to leave a treatment facility for Christmas.

He said in a written statement that the 20-year Forces veteran intentionally drove her car into an oncoming transport truck on the Trans-Canada highway near Calgary. Two people in the tractor-trailer were not seriously hurt.

Tom MacEachern said his wife left a note for the family and that her death was a “final desperate act” as a result of “protracted battles” with Veterans Affairs over medical benefits for dental work she received in the late 1980s, while stationed in Germany during the First Gulf War.

CTV says government sources confirmed to the network that another soldier committed suicide last week at Alberta’s CFB Suffield. It provided no details.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

More.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/final-desperate-act-husband-reveals-details-of-another-canadian-soldier-s-suicide-1.1630129

 

[McG]

Looks like more bad news:

Four other Canadian soldiers died from apparent suicides in the past six weeks.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/More+Canadian+military+suicides+feared+recent+weeks/9365597/story.html

 

[Journeyman]

Looks like more bad news:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/More+Canadian+military+suicides+feared+recent+weeks/9365597/story.html

Seriously?!  The Ottawa Citizen put this article in the "Arts and Entertainment" section?!  :not-again:

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Found this link at the bottom of MCG's article.
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/2266.0

EDIT: same last name, different person

 

[Journeyman]

Found this link at the bottom of MCG's article.
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/2266.0

Yes Bruce, good marketing for the site, but nonetheless, I don't think the Citizen should have posted it under "Arts"

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I wasn't responding to your post my friend,......I saw the link on thier site and when I clicked I saw the same name and made an assumption that it was the same person.
My bad.......


EDIT: ..and I left a comment there in regards to your point.

 

[Journeyman]

EDIT: ..and I left a comment there in regards to your point.

Thanks much. Being a non-Facebook Luddite, I had no option to comment...other than to email the owner directly  :nod:

ps - nice pic with your comment by the way    >

 

[jeffb]

Seriously?!  The Ottawa Citizen put this article in the "Arts and Entertainment" section?!  :not-again:

And here's the email for the editor. Feel free to drop him an email about how insensitive this is. [email protected]

 

[George Wallace]

Well.  The author did make a few final points and link his article to this site:

........

• “We aren’t out to lay blame or criticize the individuals working in Veterans Affairs or the health care system. These people are suffering too, trying to make the most with their ever dwindling resources. Too many bad decisions are being made by disconnected politicians and unaccountable mandarins at both federal and provincial levels.”

• “If we as a country cannot solve this together… we are in for far worse times ahead in this quickly changing world.”

• Check this online forum post from 2001 and tell me what’s changed?

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/2266.0

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

 

[McG]

It seems the article can be addressed through every section of the site:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/More+Canadian+military+suicides+feared+recent+weeks/9365597/story.html
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/More+Canadian+military+suicides+feared+recent+weeks/9365597/story.html

I note that the link I followed has been fixed on the home page (it now goes through the news section).  We can probably get back to the actual topic now.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

"We believe her PTSD symptoms manifested themselves as the result of some protracted battles with Veterans affairs to obtain medical benefits for issues arising from dental work in the late 1980s while stationed in Germany during the first Gulf War. Metals used in fashioning a quick replacement tooth (that were banned from use in Germany shortly after) she believed, had contributed to a confirmed diagnosis of geographic tongue. Other symptoms following the dental work included an increased sensitivity to smells, taste and frequent vomiting. There was also speculation that the high levels of air pollution in Lahr, Germany, may have contributed to her hyper-sensitivities. Conspiracy theorists suggest that soldiers in that conflict may have been injected with some kind of anti-chemical warfare agent that later manifested itself with PTSD-like symptoms. Some of her symptoms did bear a striking resemblance to what American soldiers in that conflict suffered as Gulf War Syndrome in the numbers approaching 300,000."

Am I the only one that finds the referencing to anything that has to do with the Gulf war a sort of misdirection? Like to garner more attention to the PTSD situation here?  Maybe I am just a big meanie.

Edit to add: her funeral was yesterday, some of the members from work attended.  RIP.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/full-statement-from-cpl-maceachern-s-husband-1.1630115#ixzz2pvzu9ocb

 

[George Wallace]

Am I the only one that finds the referencing to anything that has to do with the Gulf war a sort of misdirection? Like to garner more attention to the PTSD situation here?  Maybe I am just a big meanie.

I don't think you are being a meanie.  I think that anything to do with serving or former serving members of the CAF is automatically having a PTSD label added to it when the MSM start broadcasting their stories.  It seems to be their main storyline, per se.  On one hand it may be poor journalism; on the other, it may bring more focus onto the problems facing those with issues that are not getting the treatment they need.  There are Positives and Negatives to all of these stories.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

My quote is from the husband's statement. He is the one suggesting it was PTSD.

 

[winnipegoo7]

"We believe her PTSD symptoms manifested themselves as the result of some protracted battles with Veterans affairs to obtain medical benefits for issues arising from dental work in the late 1980s while stationed in Germany during the first Gulf War. Metals used in fashioning a quick replacement tooth (that were banned from use in Germany shortly after) she believed, had contributed to a confirmed diagnosis of geographic tongue. Other symptoms following the dental work included an increased sensitivity to smells, taste and frequent vomiting. There was also speculation that the high levels of air pollution in Lahr, Germany, may have contributed to her hyper-sensitivities. Conspiracy theorists suggest that soldiers in that conflict may have been injected with some kind of anti-chemical warfare agent that later manifested itself with PTSD-like symptoms. Some of her symptoms did bear a striking resemblance to what American soldiers in that conflict suffered as Gulf War Syndrome in the numbers approaching 300,000."

Am I the only one that finds the referencing to anything that has to do with the Gulf war a sort of misdirection? Like to garner more attention to the PTSD situation here?  Maybe I am just a big meanie.

Edit to add: her funeral was yesterday, some of the members from work attended.  RIP.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/full-statement-from-cpl-maceachern-s-husband-1.1630115#ixzz2pvzu9ocb

I'm surprised to learn that the Gulf War was fought in the "late 1980s."

 

[PMedMoe]

I'm surprised to learn that the Gulf War was fought in the "late 1980s."

The Iran-Iraq War, also known as the First Persian Gulf War was an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq lasting from September 1980 to August 1988.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

The Iran-Iraq War, also known as the First Persian Gulf War was an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq lasting from September 1980 to August 1988.

With a side conflict in Germany?

 

[PMedMoe]

With a side conflict in Germany?

The newspaper never said anything about Germany (or the CF) being involved.  I would imagine that overseas bases would have been on some kind of alert though.

I get what some of you are saying about PTSD for dental work or her never having been in  a "conflict" (is that necessary for development and/or diagnosis of PTSD?).  What about her having to leave the forces due to harassment?  I can see where the combination of that and the runaround from VAC might cause depression of some kind.  Just my  :2c:

 

[Lightguns]

My condolences to the family.  This news event is not helping the cause of PTSD treatment for veterans suffering from an OSI.  This individual did not have an OSI and did not serve anywhere that an OSI was possible.  Yes, PTSD is possible from any traumatic event in one's life dependent on the mental fitness of an individual but this event has nothing to do with the cause of veterans and OSI.  A lifetime mental illness also manifests itself later in life as changes to our older bodies can make it hard to stay on an emotional even keel. 

I see no mention of a note left to family and friends, nothing to indicate a suicide.  I tried to get some information on the incident of harassment, indeed and could not find any.  My memory serves that some allegations were proved but the individual went on to serve and retired successfully under the 20/40 program.  I also remember at the time W5 doing a story on the dental filllings material in question and that the evidence was not conclusive.

Indeed, there is no evidence that this auto accident is self inflicted, this may well be a distracted driver or a medication induced inattention.  I am sorry but this is tragedy for a family at Xmas and nothing more, no conspiracy of government, military, VA and/or the German Dental Guild.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

Moe, see the link of the staement by the woman's husband.

Also, in regards to her having to leave the forces due to harassment.  I understand that but "frustration" does not equal PTSD.  I feel PTSD is a buzzword that's now getting overused and we're attributing every suicide to it.

Remember when we barely spoke of suicides and some people would suggest it was a "coward's way out"? Now they make headlines.


Lightguns, one of the five steps of grief is anger, and I believe that is what the husband is expressing in his statement. I also believe he is using all the hyped up PTSD coverage to help with the attention.