"He will never be counted as a casualty of this war"

Secretary Rumsfeld:

We are the proud parents of Corporal Jeffrey Michael Lucey, USMC Reserve. He was activated in January, 2003; deployed in February and remained in Iraq / Kuwait until his return in July, 2003. It was his spirit that was mortally wounded on the battlefield but it was his body that died in the cellar of our home by his own hand this past June 22nd. He will never be counted as a casualty of this war in a formal count or be recognized as such yet to all who hear his story - we know. Your military has tried to lay the blame at the feet of his beloved girlfriend but anyone familiar with PTSD knows the horrible toll that PTSD takes on any and all loved ones and its' respective ripple effect. We can't even begin to tell the impact that disturbing move had on our beliefs and respect towards this administration ... not on the troops but on their leadership. We don't know how many others have gone through similiar situations but we fear that there have been many ... and that there will be many more coming from this war which was begun either from ignorance and /or deception. But that doesn't matter anymore... at least for Jeffrey. What matters now is the importance of creating a viable service delivery system responsive immediately to the needs of our young men and women returning from that chaotic destructive beast - WAR. A truth that can not be disputed is that there exists an obligation held by you and this administration to assist in the very best way possible the returning veterans ... the veterans returning from this war action triggered by the actions of this administration. Yet we just read in our newspaper that the administration is possibly considering freezing or cutting disability monies and services for veterans to try to address the growing deficit. My God, these are your guys as well as our children, siblings, spouses, parents, families and friends. For Jeffrey and for our family, we all tried but no one ever guided us until it was too late and then we ran into policy hurdles and we were put off. We guess that it was because he wasn't bad enough. He reached out his hand but it wasn't far or soon enough; the systems extended theirs but again not soon or far enough. Their fingertips grazed as he slipped through and crashed. The pain and agony of those of us who have " survived " is deep and intense; regretfully our numbers are growing and we all must keep in mind that it is not just the formal well publicized numbers published in the media known as Death Toll - there are so many others. It is on behalf of all the brave young men and women who are presently serving in all the theaters and areas; on behalf of all the fallen heroes - those who have fallen on the battlefield and those who succumbed to the battles within their souls; and on behalf of all their loved ones that you grant their request to meet with you and to discuss various issues and questions. We know it will not be easy but please understand the lot in life all of us have recently been given also is not easy. We have so many questions but basically it comes down to why did Jeff have to go; what was the urgency especially in light of all the information subsequent to March 20, 2003; what are the reasons. We would strongly encourage you to please address the issues genuinely - many of us become sickened when we hear people appeal to general platitudes and looking for the sympathetic soundbytes. We pray that you will meet with these citizens of this country from whom this administration derives its power and legitimacy. We will not be there due to the fact that again Jeff's situation , from what we understand , would not make us eligible but no matter - we all belong to a greater brother/sisterhood ... the horrible loss of our loved ones.

Thank you for your patience and attention.