Rest in peace, Jesse Tait

I didn’t know Jesse Tait. I had never met him. Jesse Tait was posted to Canadian Forces Base in Shilo Manitoba, where our girls are living. The girls have lived there since their posting in July, 2014. They met Jesse Tait two or three times. CFB Shilo is a fairly compact community. A cook and a medic, one way or another our girls will meet most of the folks who live and work on the base. That’s the way it is on a small military base. Tait was a neighbour, a veteran of two military conflicts, a father, a husband and a son. Tait was also fighting a battle he couldn’t win on his own.

Tait’s mother said her son had been depressed. She said he had asked for professional help, but didn’t get it. In 2014, there were 19 suicides among soldiers serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. That’s 19 too many. In 2015, Jesse Tait became a military suicide statistic. He was a young man who needed help. But a small base, such as Shilo doesn’t have the resources to deal with mental health problems.

Tait’s friends, family and colleagues were stunned by his death. They describe him as a man whose military ambitions were a big part of his life. He was always joking around and playing practical jokes on people. By all accounts, he was lovely and charismatic.

Tait’s two young sons will now grow up not knowing their father the way others got to know him. His wife will struggle to make a new life outside the military community. The Tait family probably won’t get the professional help they need to deal with Sergeant Tait’s death.

Mental illness is hard to recognize, because the symptoms aren’t usually physical. Our society makes it hard to express the hurt of mental health issues. We still believe it is an expression of weakness and an inability to cope with life. We think people suffering just need to suck it up, grow a pair and deal with it. The stigma surrounding individuals with psychological problems, especially those in the military, is like a heavy blanket. Military personnel are supposed to be the strongest of the strong. Yet depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are commonplace in the military, especially among those who like Sgt. Tait, have served in armed conflicts.

Tait had been deployed twice. Once to Afghanistan and once to Bosnia. He, like his comrades, saw the worst atrocities. Depression and PTSD can make a person feel as if they’ve lost control. When a person is suffering with PTSD, their lives often become about survival. It is likely the everyday events in Tait’s life became insurmountable.

Perhaps there were times when he dealt with those events, irrationally. Sometimes, a person suffering from depression or PTSD has difficulty knowing the difference between the right and wrong reaction. Tait was likely on alert all the time, never able to relax completely or sleep through a night. Lack of sleep and the inability to relax can be physically debilitating. Jesse Tait was just plain worn out from his internal battle.

Last year, the government of Canada announced $200 million would be spent, over six years, to support the mental health needs of our military personnel. Additionally, we were told the Forces would hire additional staff to help serving members and their families cope with stress, and create mental health service locations throughout the country. The money is apparently available, but it isn’t getting to those in need fast enough. Being fit to serve is so much more than physical. Where was Sergeant Jesse Tait’s help when he needed it?

Tait didn’t have a big Tensor bandage for his depression. It was easy to miss his pain.

RIP, Sgt. Jesse Tait, PPCLI, CFB Shilo Manitoba.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca