Thank You For Your Service

Tim Jung is a sergeant first-class who works with the WTB program for wounded warriors. Jung nearly killed himself; he was in the midst of an attempt to write his final letters to his kids and take an overdose, then drown in the river, when something just happened and he went back home. He spends his days keeping other men and women from taking their own lives.

Aieti is going from office to office, in a crazy quest to do what the army asks of him in order to be in the WTB program. He needs to obtain 39 signatures; along the way, various officers inspect his bag of medications and question him on what he takes and why. He feels awkward, embarrassed, and overwhelmed. He gets sent all over the place, to locked offices and wrong offices. He gets lost.

When he lands in Jung’s office, Aieti is told he is in the high-risk category, something Aieti didn’t know. Jung asks a few questions to determine if it’s the right category. He asks Aieti about nightmares, reliving past events, trouble sleeping, and racing thoughts. Aieti responds yes to virtually all the questions. 

Jung explains what high risk means in the WTB program. Aieti must sign a contract for safety. He can’t drink, be around guns or knives, and must check in with his squad leader each morning and night. Further, he will have only a week’s worth of meds at a time.

The contract Aieti signs says:

I, Aieti, Tausolo, know that I am in a difficult state and may look for a way out by harming myself or others. I will not intentionally harm myself or others and if I have thoughts about harming myself or others I will contact my Chain of Command immediately. I agree to take these precautions and stay safe because I know that my life and the lives of those around me are worth holding on to (145).

Aieti goes through diagnoses: PTSD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD, knee pain, and adjustment disorder. We hear a retelling of the day in the Humvee and Aieti’s heroic deeds, and how it makes no sense that he hasn’t received at least a Bronze Star. All he got was a Purple Heart. 

While in the previous treatment facility, Aieti had written to one of the other men in the Humvee that day, to see how he was faring, but mostly to find out if he resents that Aieti saved his life. The man writes back and says he doesn’t hate Aieti. He doesn’t tell of all the pain he’s gone through: the amputation, shrapnel in his face, eye, and brain. The man has a family now, and is taking classes at school.

We hear from another officer about a soldier named Jessie Robinson, who, like Aieti, was high risk. The officer found by Robinson’s empty pill bottle in a pool of black blood. Robinson died in the officer’s arms. Jung goes through Aieti’s prescriptions. Ultimately, he calls the pharmacist and insists that Aieti only have a week’s worth of pills. Jung sees the look on Aieti’s face and believes Aieti will take his own life. Jung is determined to save him.

We pick up the story of Jessie Robinson’s suicide in this chapter, after its brief mention in the previous chapter. The lesson learned is to make high-risk soldiers check in twice a day, inform soldiers of risks of overdosing, encourage the use of a battle buddy, and continue improvements in leader communication. Robinson’s widow, Kristy, has her own reports, in the form of hastily-written notes on her cell phone, frequently misspelled due to fear of Jessie seeing her doing it. She is now back in their house, repainting walls gouged by his violent acts. She and their infant daughter had left the house three months before his suicide. She had stayed with him for a few years before the violence became unbearable, and his sanity slipped away. 

Robinson shared some disturbing stories from his time in the military, such as holding a skull together and seeing a man explode into a pink mist while trying to disarm a bomb. He kept getting more angry and violent; Kristy was told to be patient and give it time. Robinson began to describe all the ways he planned to kill himself. He told Kristy how he wanted to hurt her and came close to doing so. She stayed, save for a brief separation. Then she got pregnant and promised to work it out. 

Robinson’s mental state was in rapid decline, and he became very paranoid. At one point, he made Kristy drive them all over, going in circles and back roads to her family’s home in another town, because someone was supposedly after them. The police brought him back, asking about his mental diagnosis. He was hospitalized for a short period, but only got worse once discharged.

Robinson was put in the psychiatric wing of the VA and texts Kristy, begging her to stay with him. She would text back at times, and she stocked the house with food when she knew he was returning. She sent him the number of a crisis line. Kristy was at church when his superior officers found Jessie in the bathroom, near death. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Jessie had died.

Robinson’s widow does eventually get engaged, but calls it off when she realizes she is confusing her fiancé’s preferences with Jessie’s. The fiancé says he will wait and keeps the ring. She gets counseling and is told she has PTSD. She organizes her text and notes in an attempt to make sense of it all. In the end, she realizes the man she married had been a wonderful man, once upon a time.