Kim Ruocco, with sons Billy and Joe (in hat), visits the grave of Maj. John Ruocco, who took his life in 2005.
The Christian Science Monitor brings us a really inspirational story of Kim Ruocco whose husband Jim, a Marine Corps Major committed suicide after a deployment to Iraq. She worked through her grief to understand the issue of military suicide and in turn help others who have lived through the same thing or are contemplating suicide.
She read about it: books by mothers who had lost children to suicide, by people who had spent their careers studying suicide – anything to help her understand the terrible event that had so irrevocably altered her family.
Through her grief, Mrs. Ruocco, now manager of suicide outreach and education programs for the nonprofit Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), has quietly become an important figure in the effort to respond to suicides by military personnel.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, so, too, do military suicides. This year, the Marine Corps Suicide Prevention Program (MCSPP) counted 34 suspected suicides among active duty marines from January to July. It recorded 42 suicides in the same group for all of 2008. The US Army lists 96 reported active-duty suicides for January to July 2009, up from 79 from January to July 2008.
Ruocco, who lives in Newbury, has told her story to military personnel around the country, encouraging individuals to seek help. She has also become a support to survivors of suicide – family members who may suddenly be crushed by grief, rejection, guilt, and shame. Ruocco has collaborated with the MCSPP to produce an innovative video that offers accounts from suicide survivors.
Full Story at link: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0928/p07s01-lign.html
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