Families: Government Needs to Do More After Military Suicides

At the national headquarters for the Veterans Administration in Washington, D.C., a plaque reads, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan." But some of those left behind say that support isn't there, the NBC 4 Washington I-Team reports. Kim Ruocco’s husband, Jon, flew helicopters for the Marine Corps for 15 years, but three months after his final deployment he killed himself after a struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. "I would just say I just want to die because I didn't want to feel that pain,”Ruocco said. “You just don't want to feel the pain." Ruocco, along with others in her position, are called “suicide survivors.” And they say almost as soon as the funeral is over, they lose their connection to the military and are left on their own to battle their grief.

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