THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! An ever growing number of our veterans today are having a difficult time thanking the VA for their service. They are subjected to many months of waiting for an appointment to see a doctor. This has become A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH for our veterans, many whom suffer deep and severe depression and lack of worth leading to countless suicides. My brother, David Livingston Tharp who served both in the Navy and 101st Airborne died as a result of serious depression and anger issues resulting from his tours of duty. I remember him saying while in Korea that the enemy was so close, he could see the whites of the eyes of his enemy... My beloved brother succumbed to his depression and died July 14, 2009. He was a beautiful 6 and trim 185 lbs. but blew up to over 400 lbs., developing sleep apnea in the process. We were too close and assumed his depression was caused by our fathers death in January 1999, a decorated 101st Airborne paratrooper. My older sister felt that our brother had become lazy, my mother thought he was just angry at his personal financial circumstances. I finally saw the light, so to speak and began to think his depression was from his tour of duty, because my darling brother came back dramatically different. I convinced him to begin the VA process. His regular doctor took offense at his leaving and sent him a certified letter that he could not be responsible for the outcome. What kind of a doctor does that? That doctor should have encouraged him years prior to go to the VA. Although back then it still took a 6 month process to diagnose him, he was found to have sleep apnea and PTSD. My brother knew that by not wearing the CPAP sleeping device, that he would stop breathing. When he passed, I felt tremendous guilt for not having identified what was wrong. But later, I came to terms with the fact that my brother did not want to remain here any longer and died of a heart attack, albeit a broken heart. He left on his terms. I have to accept that. But this brings me to Rob Findlay, an Iraq Veteran with whom I have communicated with and decided to sponsor the following fundraiser. He suffers from deep depression, TBI, seizures, PTSD and that same feeling as my brother, the lack of worth that often leads to suicide. He has a story to tell, one that resonates with many other veterans today. Rob could be my brother or yours. We are all connected. Reach out and touch a life today. You will be glad that you did. gfwd.at/1oHnGGP We hear our soldiers whispers, be they ever so faint. You may ask why am I sharing this story? Because I miss my brother. I dont want someone else to miss their brother too... FOLLOW US: https://facebook/ComesASoldiersWhisper ComesASoldiersWhisper https://twitter/Jennylas vaaccountability.org/
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 12:46:18 +0000
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