Congressman Jim Ramstad says the suicide death of a marine from Prior Lake two weeks ago was a preventable tragedy which should serve as a "wake-up call for America."
Two weeks ago Lance Corporal Jonathan Schulze took his own life at his friend's home in New Prague. Five days prior to that, Schulze sought in-patient treatment at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center for post-traumatic stess disorder and alcohol dependency, according to his parents.
Schulz told in-take personnel at the medical center that he had been having suicidal thoughts, but he was told he was 26th on a waiting list for a residential treatment program, according to his mother, Eileen Carlson.
(Related: Family of Marine wants answers after suicide)
VA officials said they couldn't comment specfically on Schulze's case, but they said they would never turn away a veteran in need of emergency care. They vowed to conduct an internal review.
Speaking at a forum on mental health issues at the Humphrey Institute in Minneapolis last week, Ramstad said, "We are not dealing with this problem as a nation," in reference to a shortage of resources to treat veterans returning from combat in Iraq.
Ramstad also said that he had been told by a psychiatrist at Bethesda Naval Medical Center that "literally hundreds of service personnel returning from the war" have committed suicide.
Ramstad said, if Schulze's family was interested, he would like to re-tell Schulze's story on Capitol Hill in hopes of gaining congressional support to address the problem.
(Copyright KARE TV 2007. All Rights Reserved)
