In the "Another One Bites the Dust " Dept., it's discouraging to learn that Lisa Chedekel, one of only a handful of truly great reporters on veterans issues – and by handful I really do mean, five or fewer -- is apparently taking a buyout offer from The Hartford Courant, the newspaper where she has reported for years, at least according on media-watcher blog, linked here. (Sorry, Lisa, about the dismal, DMV-ish photo -- it's all I could find to identify you with to readers. )
This is particularly sad news for veterans, their families, and anyone else who wants to learn about the perils of their frequently inadequate mental health and treatments, because Chedekel, who specializes in what she calls "in-depth, old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting," has provided wonderful coverage of these topics over the years. It’s disappointing to learn that Chedekel will be leaving the Courant, because it means one fewer voice covering this subject well; and perhaps no one to replace her who can do it nearly so well.
(There are others, of course, who do a great job covering veterans and mental health issues, but they are few and far between: The Washington Post's reporting duo of Anne Priest and Dana Hull, who did the seminal Walter Reed series; independent journalist Aaron Glantz, who's a new Rosalynn Carter fellow in mental health reporting this year; Mark Benjamin, who wrote about this topic in Salon and elsewhere well before it was popular on any level to do so; and Kathy Dobie, who seems to have a trauma survivor's insider's take on why this topic is so important.)
A 1982 grad of Wesleyan University, Chedekel's work has frequently been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Her fantastic investigative piece, Mentally Unfit, Forced to Fight, is fortunately still available on the Web, as is her recent article, "Mental Health Providers Too Few for Troops," linked here, and another titled, "Army Sees Record Number of Suicides in Iraq," linked here.
Mentally Unfit, Forced to Fight, is one of the best articles to date that covers the murky ground where mental illness and military readiness co-exist, and specifically covered the U.S. military's cavernous gaps in mental health care for its soldiers. Calling Chedekel's "Mentally Unfit, Forced to Fight," an "impressive investigation," a reporter at the renowned British paper, The Guardian, summarized its impact when he wrote:
The Hartford Courant found that, despite an order by Congress that the US military should assess the mental health of all deploying troops, fewer than one in 300 US personnel saw a mental health professional before deployment.
The paper says there is evidence of the US military "recycling" troops with mental health problems, redeploying them even if they develop PTSD. It also notes that the number of troop suicides in Iraq reached a high of 22 last year. The Courant says at least 11 of the soldiers who killed themselves were kept on duty "despite showing signs of significant psychological distress".
(This was news at the time, and we owe Chedekel’s reporting, and the Hartford Courant’s resources, for contributing to growing public awareness of the problem. In the mostly misplaced anger that particularly military bloggers direct at the alleged "main stream media" -- sorry, that's two words, not three -- reporters come in for a lot of flak, as though inferior coverage starts and ends with them, as opposed to also the commercial concerns of running a newspaper, often one allied with business interests. Since many of these disgruntled types seem reasonably unaware of the part that good journalism can play in helping move society forward -- by spotlighting a problem that needs to be solved, and writing persuasively about it so that people start to care -- I sometimes feel the urge to spell that out. That's what Chedekel's work did for veterans, and we're thankful that at least some important changes came about, because of it. Here's what that effort took.)
According to the Courant's website:
To report this series, The Courant obtained records under the federal Freedom of Information Act, including never-before-released pre-deployment screening data for nearly a million troops and investigative reports into dozens of service members' deaths.
The Courant also interviewed more than 100 mental health experts, service members, family members and friends. The military does not publicly identify suicide cases. But The Courant was able to identify -- in most cases for the first time -- the service members who killed themselves in Iraq through records and interviews. Details of their deaths came from investigative reports and interviews with family, friends and fellow troops.
(The series was first published in May 2006.)
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Here are some articles from Lisa Chedekel and the Hartford Courant's coverage of PSTD and the military, hyperlinked so you can go right to them:
The military is focused on retaining troops in combat, even when they exhibit clear signs of psychological distress, a Courant investigation uncovered in 2006.
Army Sees Record Number Of Suicides In Iraq
The Army is losing its battle to stem suicides among troops serving in Iraq, with a new report showing that 32 soldiers killed themselves in the war zone last year — a record high since the war began five years ago.
Special Report: Mentally Unfit, Forced To Fight
The U.S. military is sending troops with serious psychological problems into Iraq and is keeping soldiers in combat even after superiors have been alerted to suicide warnings and other signs of mental illness, a Courant investigation has found.
'Jeffrey Was Really Messed Up'
There is not enough guilt to go around here, so intent is each woman in Jeffrey Henthorn's life on owning a piece of the blame.
In the 17 months after their son, Eddie, announced he was heading off to fight the war on terror, Margaret and Edward Brabazon of Bensalem, Pa., had held their breath.
Potent Mixture: Zoloft & A Rifle
When Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren was diagnosed with depression soon after his deployment to Iraq, a military doctor handed him a supply of the mood-altering drug Effexor.
Amid Patriotism, Anger And Questions
Just off the two-lane main street of this southern Maryland town, a couple doors shy of the big lumber mill that rumbles all day like thunder, Ann and Jim Guy's modest dwelling is the picture of a patriotic American home.
Still Suffering, But Redeployed
Eight months ago, Staff Sgt. Bryce Syverson was damaged goods, so unsteady that doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center wouldn't let him wear socks or a belt.
U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman called Wednesday for a federal investigation of mental health screening for troops deploying to Iraq, after The Courant reported in a series that mentally ill service members are being sent to war and kept there, sometimes with tragic consequences.
