Santa Barbara News-Press Saturday, December 10, 2005	Click Here For Archived News
Troubled vet fell through the cracks Ex-Marine who killed dad, himself sought help but was unable to heal By SCOTT HADLY News-Press Senior Writer Knowing that he needed help, former Marine Sgt. Jeffrey Lehner admitted himself into a VA hospital in Los Angeles about a year ago. Reliving the loss of eight Marines in his unit in Afghanistan, he couldn’t sleep or sit still, and his drinking was becoming a problem, former fiancée Sarah Farmer said. Although he was going to group therapy at the local Vet Center, he felt he needed more intensive care. He wanted help. But because the group treatment program for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress was full, he was shuffled into treatment for veterans suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He lasted a day before calling Ms. Farmer to pick him up. “He was doing everything he could to heal himself,” she said. In the past few years, both the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs have made great strides in treating military personnel carrying the trauma of combat with them after their service. But somehow Sgt. Lehner slipped through the cracks. He shot and killed his father, 77-year old retired pharmacist Edwin Lehner, on Wednesday and then took his own life. Man struggled with survivor’s guilt The murder-suicide also sent ripples through the community of veterans in the county, who know that someone doesn’t have to be bleeding to be wounded. Sgt. Lehner participated in a local support group for veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Many of the men in the group recalled that Sgt. Lehner struggled with survivor’s guilt after the eight crew members died three years ago during a flight that he was pulled off at the last minute. But the members of the group, all veterans from Vietnam, are at a loss to explain why Sgt. Lehner took his life when help for veterans is more readily available than decades ago. The Marine Corps, like other branches of the military, now tries to prepare Marines headed for combat on what to expect emotionally. They also talk to their families and try to prepare them for the separation and the possibilities that their loved ones won’t come home or may come home injured, said Maj. Matt Baker, a community service officer at Twentynine Palms. They talk about everything from financial issues to mental health problems. The idea is to prevent a problem before it appears. When Marines end up in a combat zone, they now have access to psychologists or psychiatrists and chaplains who are trained to help them deal with trauma. Before they go home, they are screened for any sign of emotional or mental problems from their service, Maj. Baker said. Although there still is a stigma among some men in the service to seek help when they need it, that too is changing, he said. “We’re absolutely trying to break down that paradigm,” Maj. Baker said. A former infantry officer who commanded a battalion in combat in Iraq, Maj. Baker said his current job is vital to the military effort. “As an infantry officer, I was proudest as a (commanding officer) for the battalion,” he said. “That was the pinnacle for me, but the most important job I’ve done is what I’m doing now.” Post-traumatic stress disorder is not isolated to people who have been through combat. It can happen to anyone who has experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event, whether it’s a natural disaster, a serious accident or an assault. Those suffering from the disorder often relive the emotional experience of the trauma. They might have nightmares or flashbacks, difficulty sleeping, or become detached or estranged from loved ones. One study of the mental health of veterans found that 18 percent of those who served in Iraq and 11 percent of those who served in Afghanistan were at risk of suffering post-traumatic stress. Those conflicts, now the most sustained fighting for American troops since Vietnam, include particularly stressful guerrilla-type warfare and multiple deployments. More than 90 percent of the soldiers who served in Iraq reported coming under small-arms fire; 86 percent of those in Afghanistan reported the same. More than half of both groups had known someone killed or seriously wounded, according to the study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine. Many of those who suffer from post-traumatic stress function fine and lead productive lives, but left untreated, some can develop debilitating problems. Although the military offers help for active-duty service members, the study found that only about a quarter of those who needed help sought it. Once out of the military, veterans can become isolated and miss out on needed services. The Department of Veterans Affairs has set up a nationwide Vet Center that helps men and women adjust to civilian life. Joseph Narkevitz, a Vet Center team leader in Santa Barbara who served as an Army medic in Vietnam, said the military has made great strides in helping service members deal with the emotional trauma of combat. The best approach is to talk about it to a friend, family member, a fellow vet or in a group counseling setting, Mr. Narkevitz said. It’s not something that you necessarily get over, but that you deal with, he said. “What we want to do is be able to help a person recognize and find ways to cope,” he said. “A lot of times they’re coming back with a lot of rage because the war experience can be extremely frustrating and dangerous. They’d been in battles and had friends killed and killed people themselves. In battle you are allowed to release that rage. We want to help redirect (it).”