Former marine sergeant: Gun range outing like ‘giving an arsonist a match’
Feb 5, 2013, 10:33 AM | Updated: 1:03 pm
Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were found murdered at the gun range on this property. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Richard W. Rodriguez)
(AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Richard W. Rodriguez)
Former Navy sniper Chris Kyle was just trying to help when he took a struggling vet on an outing to a Texas gun range Saturday, where the man shot and killed Kyle and a friend.
A former marine sergeant who helps struggling veterans in civilian life thinks Kyle should have left the counseling to professionals. People returning from war can seem normal one minute and disturbed the next, according to Julie Sheriden, President and Director of the non-profit Outreach and Resource Services for Women Veterans. She thinks the outing had almost predictable results for somebody with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“I don’t think there’s any good reason to take someone to a firing range when they’re suffering the effects of post traumatic stress from military combat,” Sheriden told Seattle’s Morning News. “To me, that’s like taking an arsonist and giving them some matches and saying, ‘Let’s see how this building burning makes you feel.’
If you want to help a veteran cope, Sheriden urges that you do it with help from experts.
“People really ought to work closely with professional mental health people, an array of people really, to help a person through their post traumatic stress issues.”
Sheriden says society must remove the stigma from PTSD so that military vets feel free to talk about their experiences. She says struggling vets need time to reflect with people they trust.
“Go out and spend some time alone with a small group of people and be able to sit around the campfire and be able to talk about your issues and forgive yourself,” advised Sheriden. “The things that people do in war, they did to keep the rest of us free and they carry this huge burden. Let’s help unburden them.”
Eddie Routh is charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield. An Erath County, Tex. arrest warrant says Kyle and Littlefield were shot multiple times and numerous guns were at the scene.
