Dean and Jill Lambert of Adel with Cong., Nunn. (RI photo)
Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn says the suicide rate among Iowa veterans in the first 12 months after leaving the military is four times higher than the national average. He’s introduced a bill that would create a pilot program to offer support to soldiers as they transition to civilian life.
“We don’t have a military installation here, so when folks leave the front line and come back home, short of joining one of our guard units or one of veterans’ posts, the American Legion, it can feel really isolating,” Nunn said.
The bill is named in honor of Marines from Iowa and Rhode Island who served together in Afghanistan and died by suicide within a year after they left the military.
“These were two individuals who were in combat zones, came home and what this bill aims to do is recognize not only are you not alone, but you have a resource immediately available to you,” Nunn said. “It’s not just for those who may be susceptible to suicide, it’s for every member getting out to remind them: ‘Hey, let’s check in with my wing man. Let’s see how our battle buddy is doing,’ and make sure that we do those calls because in that 12 months immediately after a removal from a combat zone is when they’re most vulnerable.”
The bill would set up 10 pilot projects that would counsel exiting servicemembers about the challenges that they might face as a civilian and how that might affect their mental health. Dean and Jill Lambert of Adel are the parents of Marine Corporal Adam Lambert who died by suicide in 2015 after leaving the military, They joined Nunn at a news conference today to show support for the bill.
Dean Lambert said the help that’s offered to returning veterans often seems too clinical. “The people that veterans trust most are veterans — other veterans,” Lambert said.
Part of the pilot project would include group counseling sessions about things that may remind veterans of combat. “They realize, well, that’s not a burn pit or that’s not bullets flying at you,” Lambert said. “You guys have no idea and eventually that wears on them and when they don’t know how to deal with those feelings or emotions, sometimes they just get tired of it all.”
Nunn, who has served in the Air Force and the Iowa National Guard, is currently in the Air Force Reserve. His bill has both Republican and Democratic co-sponsors, including Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is an Army veteran. The bill would require local VA hospitals to offer to schedule mental health counseling for all veterans within 90 days of their exit from the military