( - promoted by elwood)
An Open Letter to Speaker O'Brien and Majority Leader Bettencourt:
Gentlemen,
I am writing today to request that you demand the resignation of Representative Harty of Strafford District 3. I wish I could say this was just a partisan issue and I was just writing because I was an upset Democrat. That is not it at all. This issue is much more serious.
I served in 2010 as a Combat Medic with Charlie Company 3/172 Infantry (Mountain) in Zormat, Afghanistan. In my civilian life I am an Emergency Department RN and a Paramedic. Because of my healthcare experience, as well as my military background I am deeply concerned about Rep Harty's recent remarks about mental illness.
Suicide rates are climbing at an alarming rate in the military, especially among recently deployed National Guard and Reserve soldiers such as myself. In 2009 there where more than 105 Guard and Reserve soldiers who had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan who ended their own lives. Rep Harty would have us believe that we are better off without these "defective people", and to me that is one of the biggest insults to Veterans that I have ever heard.
Using his service and his age as an excuse for his statements is the exact opposite of what we need. We need to be able to look to our elders and the Veterans who came before us as an example, this is the wrong example for both Veterans and the New Hampshire House.
Too many Veterans are ashamed to seek the help they need for their mental health concerns. The stigma that is attached to mental illness is too much for them to overcome, especially among Combat Arms specialities, and so they turn to alcohol or substance abuse. This leads to higher rates of domestic violence and DUI incidents among combat veterans.
Luckily for myself I am not ashamed of mental illness and I have been able to admit that I have been depressed and experiencing PTSD since returning from Afghanistan. I have been navigating the mental health system and seeking the care that I need. I freely share this with the guys who I served with hoping that it will encourage them too to seek the help they need. I am afraid if they hear statements from elected officials like Rep Harty that he believes they are defective, or we'd be better off without them, that they may not seek the care they need.
We need our elected officials to be models for society.
Please demand that Rep Harty resign as soon as possible. We need to stand up for the most vulnerable citizens and send a message that they have a valuable place in our society. We need elders like Granny D, not Rep Harty!
Respectfully,
Jeffery Ballard RN, NREMT-P
Brookfield, New Hampshire
US Army Combat Medic (68W)
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