Capt. Peter Linnerooth; the man who couldn’t save himself
Scores of you have sent me links over the past few days in regards to Capt. Peter Linnerooth, an Army psychiatrist who helped all of the soldiers he came in contact with, but couldn’t find the strength to help himself. I haven’t been ignoring you all, I just couldn’t think of anything worthwhile to say about it, but here’s a link from Fox News, discuss it among yourselves, since you all obviously want to;
Linnerooth did such a good job his Army comrades dubbed him The Wizard. His “magic” was deceptively simple: an instant rapport with soldiers, an empathetic manner, a big heart.
For a year during one of the bloodiest stretches of the Iraq war, Linnerooth met with soldiers 60 to 70 hours a week. Sometimes he’d hop on helicopters or join convoys, risking mortars and roadside bombs. Often, though, the soldiers came to his shoebox-sized “office” at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.
[…]
He became a college professor in Minnesota, then counseled vets in California and Nevada. He’d done much to help the troops, but in his mind, it wasn’t enough. He worried about veteran suicides. He wrote about professional burnout. He grappled with PTSD, depression and anger, his despair spiraling into an overdose. He divorced and married again. He fought valiantly to get his life in order.
But he couldn’t make it happen.
As the new year dawned, Pete Linnerooth, Bronze Star recipient, admired Army captain, devoted father, turned his gun on himself.
Category: Military issues
Well unsaid.
— UP
I read that story on Drudge yesterday. It got real dusty in the room again.
300-400 physicians take their lives anuually. Within that group, psychiatrists are twice as likely to suicide as other specialties.
Who will take his place?
i got weird vibes from this story. not able to put a finger on it but something doesn’t seem right.
@5 steve, I read the article more carefully. I think I see what you’re ‘weird vibes’ are about. Everyone in the story is portrayed as helpless and traumatized. More like the victims of a church bus crash, than working military units.
How sad.
I personally know the worth of people like Capt. Linnerooth.
Alice and Mark (one a former USA Capt. the other a reserve Maj.)at my local Vet Center are important beyond any words that can be expressed in this space.
I am sure that there are some of you that understand exactly what I mean.
What is problematic is the causal relationship that is drawn between his service experience and his suicide. Was there a history of suicide in his family? Dunno. Was he abusing alcohol or drugs? Dunno. Was he under great financial strain? Dunno. Did his wife walk out on him? Dunno.I am sorry that he took his own life. I truly am–but that causal connection may or may not be accurate and correct.
Here’s the link to the entire article at Fox News: “Vet who saved many in Iraq couldn’t escape demons”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/18/vet-who-saved-many-in-iraq-couldnt-escape-demons/?cmpid=googextension
I can’t remember where I read it, but there is evidently some statistics that show that the most people who go into counseling as a profession (either psychologists or psychiatrists) are more likely to either (a) have an mental issue themselves; or (b) be related by blood or marriage to someone who does. Thus, his issue may have been pre-existing.
That said, how terribly sad. My condolences to the family, who continue to suffer. After a friend committed suicide, another friend told me that suicide does not end the suffering, it just changes the sufferor.
How very sad. I can imagine that dealing with all of that psychological trauma for months on end would take a toll. Perhaps continuing to work with people with the same issues he had was detrimental to his own healing, kind of a negative feedback.
RIP, my heart goes out to his families.
A genuinely sad story. A primary attribute of most good care-givers is caring. And NO, I’m not being flippant in saying that.
Cynically, Captain Linnerooth aside I see:
CNN
telling a tale of
an Iraq campaign veteran, with PTSD
and a gun.
who shot someone. Himself.
Obviously not sane.
If only he hadn’t had a gun. Or gone to war.
Rest in Peace
Not all casualties occur on the battlefield.
Damn shame. Such a waste. To paraphrase Bismarck, there is nothing in SW Asia worth the blood of one Texas grenadier.
RIP Mr. Linnerooth. God Speed to your family.
May he now be at peace from his demons.
Hey guys. I have some perspective on this being an Army Medical provider. First off, an on the spot correction to #10. Susan, that’s a pretty serious allegation you’re making there without being able to cite the study. It’s a correlation that isn’t supported by evidence, so please be careful repeating those things. Healthcare providers on the whole chose to do what they do because it’s what we are good at. Implying that an entire field of dedicaed, highly skilled, well educated and compassionate people have mental problems is not ok here, just like implying that because some grunts get trigger happy and kill civvies doesn’t mean that they all do isn’t ok. Alright? Not being mean, just correcting you on that statement. Second, As a healthcare provider, I know how it hurts to loose people you work your ass off to save. That’s *our* mission, saving soldiers, and is sucks when we fail, and it hurts. But guess what? We’re soldiers, and we cowboy the fuck up and carry on with the mission, which is saving our brothers and sisters in uniform. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt inside. It doesn’t mean that the healers can’t get hurt. But we have a job to do. We aren’t victims like this article portrays. We’re just fighting a different battle of the same war. However, unlike the combat arms guys fights, ours will go on on for years as we continue to try to save these guys for the rest of all of our lives. Shit, I still see the faces of the guys at Walter Reed that committed suicide under our watch, and I didn’t even go overseas. As a final note, I’d like to point out that secondary psychological trauma affects in far more subtle ways that we suspected even ten years ago. I wasn’t there at the time, but there were fistfights in the ICU at WRAMC between Nurse Corps officers during the surge. Nurses melting down on staff and having to be relieved of duty to get aid. Staff physicians popping hot UDA’s for excess sleep aid… Read more »
@10 – ‘Suicide does not end the suffering, it just changes the sufferer.’ This is too true for words.
Do not be the sufferer and do not try to go it alone.
Rest in peace. Find a better place for yourself.
God bless, RIP CPT Linnerooth.
@ 18, you make a good point: you didn’t go overseas. Cowboy the fuck up, hooah. :/
Horrible. Heart goes out to his family.
@18 and @21
No blue on blue. We are on the same side here people. I believe that we all realize just how stressful the mental healthcare mission is and do not want to see those who aid the warriors fall into the same pit that they are helping the warrior out of. I know a little about this from the patient side because even I can see how the wounded warrior care stresses out some of the staff helping them recover because I am currently in a WTU for an injury received in Afghanistan. I see some of my cadre step off to the side and take a deep breath, then jump right back into the fight. They deserve our thanks, not a cheap shot from the sidelines. At the same time, those people who are caregivers need to see that yes, it does affect you and become defensive because someone points out the stress involved with the job.
You want to fight about something, set up March Madness brackets and debate how fast my Syracuse Orangemen are going to underachieve and get knocked out of the tourney.
@21-So that’s your takeaway from what I wrote? You’re right. I was cross leveled to 10th CSH outta Carson to head overseas in October of 2008 to replace staff from the 396CSH when the drawn down in OIF changed manpower requirements and they changed my orders to JTF CAPMED. So, thanks for the implication that I wasn’t willing to go.
And you are, of course, right…Because some of us in AMEDD have to stay back and run shitty, dusty boring hospitals like Walter Reed, Brook, Madigan, Landstuhl, and Tripler where nothing ever happens and the soldiers are healed before they get there.
Your implication is that our opinions and experiences means nothing without being in theater. We should just shut our mouths about the entire subject because until each and every one of us gets that time, we know nothing.
Your experience and understanding of the workings of the Army Medical Department, and the professional roles within it are second only to obvious your overwhelming respect for your fellow soldiers.
TAH is a wonderful community. All of you, and the varied backgrounds and experiences represented by those who post and the many more who lurk here, are the reason I work with veterans. There are no better patients anywhere. That fact was true when I was in Bagram and it’s still true today.
I don’t know what to make of CPT Linnerooth’s death beyond the tragedy of yet another suicide among our fellow OEF/OIF veterans. We don’t know, and most likely never will, how his military experiences may have contributed to his untimely death. We don’t even know if his dedication to his patients kept him alive longer than he wanted to live.
What we do know is that CPT Linnerooth’s work helped a great number of people and our ranks are one smaller today. That’s more than enough for me to grieve his death.