The US government has agreed to pay a $350,000 settlement to the parents of a US marine who committed suicide after returning home from Iraq. Joyce and Kevin Lucey had filed a lawsuit alleging the government’s failure to treat veterans cost their son, Jeffrey Lucey, his life. Jeffrey hanged himself after the US military refused to deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder. In May 2004, Jeffrey’s parents had him involuntarily committed to a VA hospital, but the hospital discharged him after a few days. Two weeks later, Kevin Lucey came home to find his son hanging from a hose in the cellar. Lying on his bed were the dog tags of two unarmed Iraqi prisoners Jeffrey had said he was forced to shoot. In an interview with Democracy Now! in July 2007, Kevin Lucey talked about the VA’s neglect of his son.

Kevin Lucey: “We need to emphasize that Jeff had revealed to them three ways that he had planned to commit suicide. He told them that he would suffocate himself, he would overdose, or he would hang himself. He also shared with the psychiatrist how he had bought a hose. And, of course, on the following, of June 5th, when we tried to admit him the second time, and the VA declined, Joyce and I went through the house, we took everything that he could hurt himself with, but we never thought of a hose.”

The Lucey family’s wrongful death suit was the first such case over an Iraq war veteran. In a statement, Kevin Lucey said, “The US government sent my son into an illegal and reckless war and then…denied him the basic healthcare he needed. We hope that this case serves as a wake-up call that our government must be held accountable for the suffering it has caused thousands of US military families.”