PD Editorial: The many casualties of Pathway Home shootings

More than 1,000 people gathered this week in Yountville to honor the three brave women killed by a gunman at the Pathway Home treatment facility.

Christine Loeber, Jennifer Gray Golick and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba dedicated their lives to helping combat veterans recover from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems.

Though they didn’t wear military uniforms or serve on the front lines, these caregivers, killed by a former patient, are casualties of America’s long-running wars in the Middle East.

As anyone who attended Monday’s memorial service or watched on TV could see, their tragic deaths are a terrible loss for their friends and loved ones.

That loss extends to veterans who need the kind of professional help and support that was provided at Pathway Home, which suspended operations indefinitely following the March 9 shootings. It’s impossible to say how many there are, but these men and women also are casualties of the attack in Yountville.

U.S. troops arrived in Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq less than two years later. With service members making four, five, even six trips into the war zones and other hot spots, tens of thousands of veterans are coping with PTSD and other psychological impacts of combat. Too many of them don’t get the help that they need.

Pathway Home, a residential therapy center on the grounds of the Veterans Home of California, was recognized nationally for its efforts to re-acclimate combat veterans into civilian life. More than 450 vets have been through the program, which was the subject of a gripping 2015 documentary called “Of Men and War” and featured in “Thank You for Your Service,” a 2017 movie about the effects of war on the soldiers who fight.

Having lost their executive director and much of their small clinical staff in the shooting, Pathway Home’s directors say they need time to sort out their options. A spokesman said residential treatment is unlikely to continue.

We hope that Pathway Home eventually will be able to restore at least some of its services with the help of its local network of supporters as well as state and federal veterans agencies.

The need is clear. California is home to 1.8 million veterans, including more than 230,000 who have served since the?Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Most vets slide back into civilian life, but many need help. Substance abuse and suicide rates are high, and vets comprise a disproportionate share of the homeless population.

“Year after year, we continue to send our sons and daughters all over the globe to protect and defend us,” Mike Gonzales, the father of Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, said at Monday’s memorial service. “They’ve had to see unspeakable things. They’ve had to do unspeakable things. … They need resources, they need attention. They need our help, and these women dedicated their lives to that.”

President Donald Trump has promised more and better services for veterans, a goal that all Americans can share.

One way to start, while honoring those killed in Yountville, would be to take the millions being spent to plan a military parade past the White House and use that money for programs like Pathway Home.