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Sweet Stars
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posted February 05, 2007 11:13 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Updated:2007-02-05 15:04:34
Family of Iraq Vet Disputes VA Records
Parents Insist Son Reported Suicidal Condition

AP

MINNEAPOLIS (Feb. 5) - The family of an Iraq war veteran who killed himself is disputing Veterans Affairs records that indicate he failed to tell hospital officials he was thinking of suicide.

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Jonathan Schulze's father and stepmother, Jim and Marianne Schulze, said they heard their 25-year-old son tell staff members at a VA hospital that he was suicidal. He killed himself Jan. 16.

"The most disturbing part for me is their denial of Jon's suicidal condition," said Jim Schulze, who has read nearly 400 pages of records, mostly from counseling his son received at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center in St. Cloud after he returned from Iraq in 2004.

Veterans Affairs officials in Minnesota wouldn't comment on the records or on any dealings with Jonathan Schulze, said Joan Vincent, the VA's public affairs officer in St. Cloud.

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"We need to maintain the privacy of this veteran," she said Friday.

The case is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Matt Burns, an agency spokesman in Washington, said the findings will be shared with Congress. The probe was requested by Sen. Daniel Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat and chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

The records obtained by the Schulzes include two conversations Jonathan Schulze had with staff at the St. Cloud hospital. A Jan. 11 document shows Schulze came to St. Cloud to ask for screening for chemical dependency treatment and was referred to a clinical social worker.

The Schulzes said the records don't mention that Jonathan Schulze told a staff member he was suicidal and asked to be admitted even though a document from Jan. 12 indicated Jonathan spoke with a counselor over the phone and was asked about suicide.

Under the category, "Having/had suicidal ideation/attempts," the counselor wrote: "no/no." Ideation is a clinical term referring to thoughts or inclinations.

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Marianne Schulze said she heard Jonathan tell the counselor he felt suicidal. She said Jonathan hung up the phone and told her that he was No. 26 on a waiting list.

However, officials at both Minnesota hospitals said their acute psychiatric care units do not have waiting lists. In addition, VA policy says local police would be contacted to check on any veteran who talks about suicide.

A separate mental-health unit with beds at the St. Cloud veterans hospital had a waiting list of 21 veterans on Jan. 29, the Vincents said. That unit, known as residential treatment, is more for ongoing cases, not for acute care.

The records from St. Cloud show that Schulze told the counselor questioning him over the phone that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"My life has been falling apart since I returned from Iraq," Schulze said in the record.

Jonathan Schulze told counselors he heard "intrusive military-related sounds" and had flashbacks of combat images.

Jim Schulze, who served in Vietnam, said he wanted to help other veterans and shared the records with the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

"The physical wounds will heal the best they can," he said. "The psychological wounds never will."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-02-05 13:31:56

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