Remembering those who die - by the enemy's hand or their own
The four military veterans who are competing in this year's Fittest Loser Challenge joined with some 150 other people recently at Challenge 22 to call attention to their fellow veterans' mental health.
The mission of the event, held at Elk Grove Village Park District's Pavilion fitness center, was to boost awareness of the estimated 22 veterans nationwide who commit suicide every day.
Each attendee did 22 pushups, 22 jumping jacks, 22 situps, 22 burpees, 22 squats and a 22-second plank at the event, which was sponsored by the Daily Herald, the Elk Grove Park District and the Elk Grove Village-based Heart of a Marine Foundation.
As the Fittest Loser contestants and their Push Fitness trainers each did 22 pushups at the front of the big gym, Lynn Nash of Palatine rang a bell 22 times. And Georgette Frank, co-founder of the Heart of a Marine Foundation (and a Gold Star mom herself), told how Nash's son Jason became a delayed victim of the War on Terror.
A member of the Navy's "Seabees," or Construction Battalions, Jason Nash served in Iraq for six months in 2006. He died by his own hand in Nomal, Illinois, two years after returning to the States.
He was 22.
"We now see that Jason was wounded in Iraq," Frank said. "He suffered invisible wounds. One percent of the time Jason showed signs of trouble. Ninety-nine percent of the time Jason was Jason.
"Today we join together to raise awareness of the 22 veterans who die by their own hands each day," Frank said. "But it's important to remember that only those who previously sought treatment are included in those 22. So even Jason would not have been counted. The true number is higher."
Fittest Loser contestant James "J.D." DeBouver of Schaumburg, a 33-year-old Army vet who says he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), huddled with Lynn Nash and compared where he had served in Iraq with where her late son had served.
Nash said her son had been "in combat situations that were very hot" as his Seabee unit repaired roads and built housing for Marine Corps forward operating bases. "They were never really safe," she said. "Three from his battalion gave their lives over there."
When her son returned home as a Navy reservist and enrolled at Illinois State University to study business, she said, Jason seemed normal but was hiding those psychological wounds. She said troubled veterans like him "don't open the black box unless they feel they're in a safe space. We need to emphasize trying to open that black box and ask for help."
DeBouver was asked whether he ever felt suicidal as he fought depression and PTSD. As if to prove how tough it is for combat veterans to talk about what haunts them, DeBouver said only, "I don't really want to talk about it. It isn't a pleasant subject."
DeBouver said it's important to remember that not all vets who commit suicide or suffer from PTSD are young Iraq or Afghanistan vets.
"A lot are from the Vietnam days," he said. "They had to endure more than we did in Iraq. They found no support back home. Nowadays people don't necessarily like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but there definitely is support for the people who are fighting it."