Sen. Kyrsten Sinema continues to honor the memory of a lost Arizona soldier

On June 10, 2013, former soldier Daniel Somers left a long letter for his wife, his parents, his friends … and us.

It began, “I am sorry that it has come to this. The fact is, for as long as I can remember my motivation for getting up every day has been so that you would not have to bury me. As things have continued to get worse, it has become clear that this alone is not a sufficient reason to carry on.”

Daniel was an Iraq war veteran from Phoenix who suffered mentally and physically from his battle experience, and then struggled to get the treatment he needed from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He said he was “too trapped in a war to be at peace, too damaged to be at war. Abandoned by those who would take the easy route, and a liability to those who stick it out … This is what brought me to my actual final mission.”

Sinema was one of the first to help

Somers served as a turret gunner and tactical human-intelligence team member during two tours in Iraq. He suffered traumatic brain injuries, but couldn’t talk about his experiences because his missions were classified.

After finishing his note that day in June, 2013, Somers took his life.

A few days later his parents, Howard and Jean, received a call from then-U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

It took several years of work, but in 2016, the House of Representatives passed the Sergeant Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access to Care Act, which Sinema introduced.

Sinema told me at the time, “Daniel clearly needed serious mental-health care because of his PTSD and his traumatic brain injury, and he was given inappropriate care. So we went to work.

“Daniel’s parents have become unrelenting advocates for improving the system. They’re amazing people and they’re determined to see this through.”

It’s true.

Somers' parents call her a 'guardian angel'

Over the years I’ve spoken several times with Somers’ mom and dad.

Jean called her son the “original whistleblower.”

And Howard has said of Sinema, “She’s our guardian angel. And she’s Daniel’s guardian angel — a guardian angel for all veterans, really. Bless her.”

Earlier this month, Sinema was one of the sponsors of the “Not Just A Number Act,” legislation with bipartisan support that would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to evaluate the effectiveness of VA suicide prevention programs, many of which she also has worked on.

Sinema’s political future is uncertain at best.

Her bipartisan bill dealing with border security and immigration — a project she and others worked on for months — was shot down by a Republican-led House that isn’t looking to work on possible solutions to the problem because it needs unresolved hot-button issues like the border to rile up MAGA constituents for the upcoming election.

Border Patrol union: Backs Sinema's border security bill

It was a bitter dissappointment for her, and a loss for us all.

Helping veterans is an honorable legacy

Still, if Sinema only is remembered for her work to prevent veterans’ suicides, and on keeping her promise made years ago to the parents of Daniel Somers, her record in Congress would be better than many.

Than most.

When she was elected to the Senate in 2018, Sinema used her first floor speech to talk about how the late-Sen. John McCain “would seek compromise instead of sowing division” and “always put country ahead of party.”

And how she was spending her time working to help veterans.

Sinema said in part, “The story of Sergeant Somers and his parents — the failure of the VA bureaucracy to provide the support this Arizona veteran needed, and the resulting tragedy — is not a story that dominated the national headlines.

“It wasn’t a political scandal or a partisan food-fight to which members of Congress were pressured to respond … but it’s exactly the kind of work that matters.”

Yes.

That.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kyrsten Sinema continues to honor the memory of a lost soldier