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Although Virginia Sen. Mark Warner never served in the military, he understands the credo "We don’t leave our men and women in the military behind.”
Recently reelected for a third term in the U.S. Senate, Warner says he views his many battles on behalf of our nation’s military veterans, enlisted personnel and their families as “personal and simply a matter of doing what’s right."
His latest, and perhaps most personal victory, came in September with the passage of the landmark, bipartisan Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, which would give up to $174 million during the next five years to state and local organizations that provide suicide-prevention services to veterans and their families, among other measures. The legislation currently awaits the signature of President Donald Trump.
The Hannon Act was named for a retired Navy commander who died by suicide in 2018 at age 46.
Asked why he regards this legislation, aimed at helping stem the tide of veteran and enlisted military personnel suicides, as his "most personal" victory, Warner pauses and says, “I lost a friend."
He explains that when Lt. Lewis B. Puller Jr., the only son of Virginia-born Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller Sr., the most decorated marine in the history of the United States Marine Corps, killed himself at age 48 with a shotgun 26 years ago, the news of his suicide shocked the military world and those in Virginia politics.
Friends and family were stunned. They thought the younger Puller had triumphed, based on his autobiography, “Fortunate Son,” which won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize. In it, he tells the story of his struggle with the physical and emotional ravages of the Vietnam War, his battles with alcohol and pain-killers and the enduring love of his wife, Linda “Toddy” Puller. Upon graduation from the College of William and Mary in 1967, Puller shipped out to Vietnam as a newly commissioned Marine Lieutenant where he was badly wounded when he tripped a booby-trapped howitzer round on Oct. 11, 1968. He lost both legs and most of his fingers in the explosion. His body riddled with shrapnel, Puller lingered near death for days, his weight dropping to 55 pounds.
But he survived, he said, thanks to his family and the love of his wife, who was pregnant with their first child. Following graduation from the College of William and Mary School of Law and the birth of their second child, he worked for many years as a lawyer at the Pentagon. He eventually received the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
Upon discovery of his body, his widow issued a statement: “To the list of names of victims of the Vietnam War, add the name of Lewis Puller. He suffered terrible wounds that never really healed."
Warner’s memory of being at the Puller family home right after Puller’s death remains vivid, as does the grief of his widow. Warner was chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party at the time, and Mrs. Puller was a longtime member of the Virginia General Assembly.
“Toddy was responsible for convincing me to enter politics," Warner says. "I knew them both and had been a guest in their home many times. What happened still haunts me.”
Unfortunately, he says, Puller’s suicide was not an anomaly, but a harbinger of the "epidemic of veteran and enlisted military personnel suicides currently engulfing American military families."
Warner’s respect for the Puller family and the urgency of doing something to stem the tide of veteran suicides played a large role in his reaching across the aisle to work with Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark. Together they crafted legislation that would create a grant program to support returning veterans and their families in addressing mental health needs. The hope is that by funding nonprofits and other community networks, more resources will be available to help prevent veteran suicides.
“The VA needs help meeting all the needs of our returning vets," Warner says. "This should help.”
The latest data from the Department of Veterans Affairs shows that more U.S. military personnel have died by suicide in the last 10 years (60,000) than those who died from combat in Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 (58,000).
Between fiscal years 2013 and 2019, Congress appropriated more than $1 billion for suicide prevention programs in the Department of Defense and at the Veterans Administration (VA). According to the VA’s most recent National Suicide Death Report and data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the suicide rate for veterans between the ages of 18 and 34 rose by almost 80% from 2005 to 2016. A recent study found that the risk of suicide nearly doubles in the first year after separating from active-duty service.
Firearms are the most common method used in suicide deaths by both active-duty service members and veterans. Among active-duty service members, firearms were associated with 62.2% of suicides in 2016. That same year, 69.4% of veteran suicide deaths were the result of the use of firearms, compared to 48.4% for nonveteran adult suicides, according to the latest data available from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Warner and the other members of the Senate and House of Representatives who worked on this legislation say the purpose of the legislation is not gun control, but helping families get increased access to mental health care.
He describes himself as a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights and says restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own weapons will not solve the problem.
“When you have 22 veterans a day committing suicide and some committing suicide on the property of the Veterans Administration that is supposed to help them, the problem is not the gun," he says, "the problem is getting them the help they need before they pick up a gun."