The army officials seemed earnest; of course they don’t want soldiers to kill themselves, but how to mitigate the problem is complicated I learned. You’ve seen the ads. They say, “An Army of One.” But, in truth, these people are all individuals, and the way one soldier reacts to strain may not be same as another younger recruit. The stigma for soldiers who need professional help for psychological problems is fierce. Their career hinges on facing down a range of adverse conditions with resiliency. But can every soldier do that for 15 months and come home and be the same person?

I had a wonderful interview with Tim, who was willing to share the story of two of his fellow soldiers who killed themselves. I might post that interview full length (after all those others I promised). I read the other stories that were filed a bit earlier by the other news outlets, but I really wanted that personal story. The story that could connect you to what these guys are feeling and not a data sheet of statistics, which is what I could’ve filed and been done with yesterday. It paid off because I ended up connecting to the story; me, with zero military knowledge.

I’m mostly up to date on my radio portfolio page with the stories I’ve done so far, not all of which I’ve posted, but I’ll rapid-fire post them on this blog, so they show up on the iTunes podcast.

Mom’s in town, so I might not get around to it this weekend.