COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: Casualties
A casualty far from the battlefield
KATE GURNETT, Times Union
November 13, 2006
Clifton Park-- Last month, Jeanne "Linda" Michel came home from Iraq. Back
in the suburbs, she tried to feel normal.
She'd been homesick for months. She couldn't wait to see her kids, ages
11, 5 and 4. Between her husband's deployment and her own, the children had
been with just one parent for nearly three years.
She was 33, with a bright smile and stubborn determination. Reuniting
should be easy. In another month, she'd be discharged from the Navy after
five years of service.
"She had come through a lot and she had always risen to challenges," her
husband, Frantz Michel, said last week.
What her family didn't see, and what she herself may not have realized, was
the enormity of what she faced.
Like thousands of others returning from Iraq, her mental state was
fractured. And it went untreated. Within two weeks, Linda Michel would
become a private casualty of war.
Re-entry into the world of peace can be harder than deployment, experts
say. Picking up where you left off doesn't just happen.
Husbands and wives report feeling like strangers to each other at first,
according to Military OneSource, a support Web site for military families.
"Family roles, rituals, dynamics have changed," said Helena Davis, deputy
director of the Mental Health Association in New York State. "And the vet
has changed. Bonds have been fractured and need to be re-established. "
Linda Michel was no exception. A self-sufficient medic known to help
others, she was uncomfortable asking for that help for herself.
But treatment and self-care are critical for returnees, Davis said. Without
it, "the anxiety keeps them spiraling down." Some turn to alcohol, drugs or
domestic violence. Or, Davis said, "they hurt themselves." August, three
veterans in New York's Adirondack region committed suicide within three
weeks, Davis told a recent gathering of mental health professionals.
And the third American female to die in Iraq, Army interpreter Spc. Alyssa
Peterson, 27, of Flagstaff, Ariz., shot herself with her service weapon. A
devout Mormon and Arabic interpreter, Peterson had objected to U.S.
techniques after just two days of participating in interrogations.
Women experience stronger forms of post-traumatic stress disorder and have
higher PTSD rates, experts say. In response, the Veterans Affairs
Department launched a $6 million study of female veterans.
Seeking treatment -- seen by some as a weakness -- may be even tougher for
women, who still feel the need to prove themselves to men in military service.
In Iraq, female troops experience attacks, mortar fire and critical
injuries such as amputation. And, women soldiers also are more at risk for
sexual assaults, up 40 percent in combat zones from last year, Davis said.
Camp Bucca, the U.S.-run military prison where Michel was stationed, was
investigated after a female mud-wrestling match was staged there.
Two weeks after she got home to Clifton Park, Linda Michel shot herself to
death, stunning her colleagues and family.
Like many women who are assigned to Iraq, Linda Michel wanted to serve.
She grew up in Montreal, with her parents and five sisters. In the states,
she married Frantz Michel, a native of Haiti who grew up in Rockland County
and became a State Police investigator. They had three children, two boys
and a girl, and lived in a quiet Clifton Park development dotted with kids'
bicycles and basketball hoops.
By 2004, Frantz, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army National Guard, was
serving in Iraq with the 42nd Infantry Division.
Linda had joined the Navy in 2001.
"It was the best fit for her," Frantz said. It meant they likely wouldn't
be deployed together. And her chances of being assigned to a combat zone
were slim.
When Linda was called up in 2005, she didn't want a deferment.
"She felt she needed to do it," Frantz said. "So I couldn't stop her."
What she hadn't expected was a shortage of Army personnel that forced Navy
and Air Force members into land-based and combat areas.
Linda went to Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, the largest U.S. military prison
there and the site of a 2005 riot that saw four prisoners killed by guards.
Inevitably dubbed "Doc" by her patients, she worked hard "doing her part to
accomplish a mission many people said the Navy could not do," Rob Hallmark
of Virginia Beach, Va., wrote in her on-line memorial guest book. "She was
always a bright shining light in such a dark, dark place."
"She was more than 'Just in the Navy' or just a 'Corpsman' or 'Sailor,' she
was there for us," added Linda's Camp Bucca roommate, Tammy Cartwright, of
Anchorage, Alaska. "She was the one that helped me get out of bed every
morning when all I wanted to do was give up and go home."
But in private, Michel faced demons. She saw a Navy doctor and was
diagnosed with depression. The doctor prescribed Paxil.
Frantz Michel knew his wife's days were long and grueling. But he didn't
know about the Paxil.
Studies have linked Paxil to adverse effects, including suicide, sparking
an FDA warning in May.
When Linda came home, the Navy discontinued her medication. Again, Frantz
Michel wasn't told.
"I just wish the Navy would have done some more follow-up, instead of just
letting her come home," said Frantz, who is on the division staff of the
Army National Guard. "If somebody needs Paxil in a combat zone, then that's
not the place for them to be. You either send them to a hospital or you
send them home and then make sure that the family members know and that
they get follow-up care."
Talking his way up the Navy's chain of command, Frantz sought answers. "Why
wasn't she sent to a facility to resolve the issues? Not keep her in Iraq
and give her some antidepressant medication and then just send her home. So
those are the answers that I don't have. Which makes me a little angry
because I know what is supposed to occur."
Duty Officer Chris Pratt of the Navy Operational Support Center in Albany
could not be reached for comment Friday, a holiday.
Linda Michel's suicide drew pages of on-line condolences, from California
to Iraq.
Her death came amid rising demands for counseling from veterans returning
from Iraq and Afghanistan. A 2005 Government Accountability Office study
called services inadequate.
Lots of resources for vets aren't utilized, Davis said. Often, veterans
don't retain what they hear during two-day stateside demobilization
sessions. "They don't have the focus. All they want to do is get home."
Health care visits every four to six weeks aren't enough, she said.
Frantz Michel wishes the Navy hadn't cleared his wife for re-entry, or left
her alone to withdraw from Paxil.
"You look (back) at things," he said last week. "I just wish that I had
more information. "
Linda Michel was given a full military funeral Oct. 23 and buried in the
Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery. Friends donated to a fund
for the Michels' three children.
Shortly before she died, Linda attended a Navy weekend drill. Fellow
reservist Robert Stanziano saw her there, and waved, but never got a chance
to talk.
When she was mobilized "we were extremely proud ... and sent them care
packages from time to time," he wrote in her memorial guest book. "We
couldn't wait for them to return. Now she is gone and I'll never get the
chance to ask her how it was over there.
"She was a great sailor, soldier, hospital corpsman, mom and a great woman
of war for our country," he wrote in her memorial guest book. "Shipmate, I
never had a chance to say this to you. Well done! Goodbye and farewell
shipmate, you will be dearly missed."
Picking up the pieces
Expert advice for returning vets:
* Go easy on yourself and loved ones who are traumatized.
* Take things one day at a time.
* Remember: Everyone has bad days.
* Make yourself connect with people you care about.
* Keep your life as simple as possible. Rest when you can.
* Stay away from alcohol and caffeine to manage moods.
* Try to eat balanced meals.
* Take time to play with your children.
* Anniversaries, birthdays and holidays will be more difficult than other
days. Plan ahead for how you can make them easier. Expect your children to
act out. Give them extra support. This will pass.
* If you need support, ask for it. Family members and neighbors can help.
You can coach them in what you need.
* We may not share your experience, but we do care.
Sources: Courtesy of Helena Davis, Mental Health Association in New York State
What combat vets want families and friends to know about living with PTSD:
* Give me space when I need to be alone -- don't overwhelm me with
questions. I'll come and talk to you when I'm ready.
* Get away from me if I am out of control, threatening or violent.
* Be patient with me, especially when I'm irritable.
* Don't personalize my behavior when I explode or get quiet.
* Learn and rehearse a time-out process.
* Don't patronize me or tell me what to do. Treat me with respect and
include me in conversations and decision making.
* Don't pity me.
* Don't say "I understand" when there are some things that you cannot
understand.
* Realize that I have unpredictable highs and lows, good and bad days.
* Anticipate my anniversary dates -- recognize that these could be tough times.
* I'd like to share my traumatic experiences with you, but I fear
overwhelming you and losing you.
* I want to be close to you and share my feelings, but I'm afraid to -- and
sometimes I don't know how to express my emotions.
* I also fear your judgment.
* Know that I still love and care about you, even if I act like a jerk
sometimes.
* Don't ask me to go to crowded or noisy places because I'm uncomfortable
in those settings.
Sources: Courtesy of Vietnam combat vets and the Oklahoma City VA Medical
Center
There is hopeResources for veterans and their families.
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