Dear Friends,
Mid-June marked one year since the launch of Grieving Grandmothers of Military Suicide, a year devoted to our core missions – raising awareness of the ongoing and worsening tragedy of suicide among our active-duty service members, and advocating for meaningful changes in military culture and suicide prevention. In the last few months, we began exploring ways to expand our impact; plans which are still under discussion. Through it all, you lent your invaluable support, for which I am deeply grateful.
I am sorry to report that the DoD’s quarterly suicide reports for quarters 3 & 4 of 2025 are still missing, and now the 1st quarter of 2026 has not been published as well. All are long overdue. This should concern us all. I have been relentless in reaching out to lawmakers, especially those sitting on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, calling their attention to this blatant lack of transparency, so far to no avail. But hope springs eternal. As such, while in New Jersey, where I spent time with family and friends in late May and early June, I was able to meet and have meaningful conversations with legislative aides to Congressman Rob Menendez, Congressman Josh Gottheimer, and Senator Andy Kim. (A meeting with Senator Cory Booker’s aides fell through, but a letter of advocacy was mailed to his Newark office.)
One of the issues I have been encountering in trying to communicate with lawmakers of whom I am not a constituent is an automatic rejection of my emails and letters. This is despite the fact that I open my messages stating, “I am writing to you, in your capacity as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, to express my concern…”. I expect that when lawmakers sit on a committee, they represent all of us, not just their state or district constituents. And yet, any communication they get from “an outsider”, even when it pertains to their responsibility as committee members, is automatically rejected.
Your help in overcoming this obstacle is crucially important. While my letter to your senator or representative would likely be ignored, yours, as a constituent, will not. Please reach out to them, either by email or snail mail, expressing your concerns over this matter. Information on how to find and reach out to your state senators and your district representative is available on our website.
Touching on some old business –
- At our upcoming board meeting we will be revisiting the consideration of establishing a scholarship for a graduate student in the Clinical Mental Health & Military and Veterans Counseling program at the University of William & Mary.
- We are continuing to explore the feasibility of getting therapy/facility dogs onto military bases.
- I have a new address for Dr. Alicia Matteson, Acting Director of DoD’s Suicide Prevention Office. Please consider sending her a letter expressing your concerns and ideas. Thanks.
Dr. Alicia Matteson
Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO)
4800 Mark Center Drive, Suite 08J25
Alexandria, VA 22350
As always, I thank you for providing your contact information, expressing your interest in Grieving Grandmothers of Military Suicides’ work, and allowing me to keep you abreast of our efforts to spread awareness and engage in advocacy. I am deeply grateful to those of you who made donations, wrote to lawmakers, and shared the website with others. Your continued interest and financial support are crucial to our success. Please consider making a donation to ensure GGMS’s ability to continue fulfilling its missions and future plans. Thank you!
Please note: We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 100% of your tax-deductible donations go toward website hosting and maintenance, advocacy work, office supplies and equipment, printing services, and postage. We pay no rent or utilities (my office is in my home) and we neither get nor pay wages.