Did you see: “Family of New Ulm vet who committed suicide urges reforms”

Sara Cederberg, Digital Director

The Mankato Free Press has the story of a roundtable discussion Al attended with Representative Tim Walz in Mankato. They met with the family of New Ulm veteran Liam Kelly, who committed suicide on June 30.

The parents of the New Ulm veteran who committed suicide June 30 shared details leading up to their son’s death publicly for the first time Wednesday during a discussion of possible veteran suicide prevention legislation.

Wendy Kube and Sean Kelly, the parents of Liam Kelly, said their son gave no warning signs just before his death and had an extensive support system of family and friends. They said he even temporarily checked himself into the local hospital for treatment. In fact, they said he counseled some fellow veterans out of contemplating suicide.

Congressional lawmakers Rep. Tim Walz and Sen. Al Franken took comments from Kelly’s family and local veteran advocates at the Morson-Ario VFW in Mankato about possible refinements to the proposed Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.

The legislation seeks to prevent the “improper” discharge of veterans with PSTD or TBI symptoms, implement rigorous reviews of veteran mental health services and integrate approaches for making mental health care more accessible to veterans. The law is named after Clay Hunt, a former Marine who took his own life in 2011 after returning from two combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“This is the first big step past the (recently passed) VA reform legislation,” Walz said.

The group suggested finding a way for the hospital to notify family or veteran leaders when a veteran enters for treatment. The group said the current systems have effectively no follow-ups to such incidents. Franken noted hospital staff was also unaware of VA mental health treatments available to veterans they treat.

Kelly’s family said they believe these proposals would have helped their son. Sean Kelly said the Clay Hunt legislation is worth passing even if it only saves one veteran from suicide.

“I would have rather had my son killed while deployed than have this happen to him. It sucks to say it. But it’s true,” Sean Kelly said.

Walz said the necessary resources to help veterans exist, but veterans are not being made aware of them because different sides of the system are not communicating.

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