Family blames military's punishment of suicidal soldier for death David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Wednesday April 9, 2008



|

Print This Email This CNN reported on the case of a soldier who killed himself while serving in Iraq, in what his parents blame on a failure of military oversight. When Pfc Jason Scheuerman was first recommended by his company chaplain for psychiatric help in June 2005, he was punished instead, accused of faking his problems, and cut off from phone and email contact with his family. "The last thing you do to someone who is suicidal is cut off their support group," stated his father. Three weeks after that, Jason was punished again and was told by his first sergeant that he might face a court martial and the risk of being sodomized in prison. He stepped into the barracks closet and shot himself less than an hour later. It was just two months after his 20th birthday. The Army did not immediately tell Scheuerman's parents that he had died by his own hand, saying that the death was still being investigated. Even after acknowledging it had been a suicide, the Army denied there was a suicide note. However, over a year later, the parents were sent a note as part of a packet of hundreds of documents they had requested under the Freedom of Information Act. "Maybe finally I can get rid of these demons," Jason wrote. "Maybe finally I can get some peace." "It breaks my heart, because he was reaching out for help," his mother commented. Jason's father, Chris Scheuerman is a retired Special Forces commando who still teaches at Fort Bragg, and Jason spent his early years on military posts. His mother also served in the Army, and one of his two brothers is currently serving in Afghanistan. The Army has refused to answer questions about why Jason -- who had indicated that he suffered from depression and feelings of hopelessness, had repeatedly been seen putting a rifle in his mouth, and had been recommended twice for psychological treatment -- was punished instead of being taken out of combat. Chris Scheuerman said that he initially trusted the Army to do the right thing. "I did not want to believe that it was as bad as I thought it was, so I chose not to make hasty judgments," he stated. "I chose to systematically try to get all the information that I could and once I received all the information I could, my worse fears were realized." The Army's own investigations concluded there were no signs of negligence, merely a lack of communication. Scheuerman is angry that no one has been held accountable for his son's death. "It's hard," he told CNN, fighting back tears. Scheuerman told a House Armed Services Committee subcommittee last month that the military would have made Jason pay for a second psychiatric evaluation after the first psychologist concluded he was faking. He recommended that the military set up a suicide prevention hotline and investigate common factors in military suicides. This video is from CNN.com, broadcast April 8, 2008.

