A mother lost her son to suicide. The Army sent her a botched report on his death.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Army compounded the grief of a family who lost a soldier to suspected suicide in Alaska in 2021 by forwarding them a botched death report with the name of another soldier at the top, documents and interviews show.
After Sgt. Maj. Peter Isackson died on April 14, 2021, the Army's Criminal Investigation Division sent Isackson's widow and his mother the faulty report. The first paragraph names a different soldier who also died by suicide in Alaska in April. The rest of the report details the circumstances of Isackson's death.
Emily Stevens, Isackson's mother, is still outraged and anguished over the Army's mistake nearly a year after his death. It shows how little the Army cared for her son while he served and after he died, she said.
"It broke my heart to see the lack of attention that was afforded to my son's case," Stevens said. "They don't care for the soldier. They don't take care of the family. I'm done with them."
Patrick Barnes, a spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, which handles cases of suspected suicide, said the agent in charge reached out to the family and expressed deep regret for the mistake. The division is reviewing its process for handling sensitive correspondence and has adjusted how it reviews such records.
The division handles thousands of records per month without issue, Barnes said, but "even one error like this is too many. The last thing any of us want to do is to cause additional pain to an already grieving Army family member. We apologize to the family for the error."
Stevens confirmed that a member of the division apologized in person. Last month, the Army sent Stevens a letter with a corrected version of the report.
"The previous response sent to you contained a page with incorrect information on it," the letter reads. "We apologize for this error, and have processed a copy of the correct page for you."
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Suicide among the 11,500 soldiers posted to Alaska reached crisis proportions in 2021. The Army has confirmed or suspects that 17 soldiers died by suicide last year, more than the previous two years combined.
Lawmakers say the situation is unacceptable and have vowed to hold the military's leadership accountable. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is expected to grill senior Pentagon officials about the military's suicide crisis during an Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday.
In the military as a whole, suicide has been rising for years. The Army has been particularly hard hit, and few of its posts have lost more soldiers than those in Alaska – at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
Alaska's long and dark winters, its seemingly endless summer sun and the isolation of living far from the continental United States are some factors contributing to the high rate of suicide in the state, soldiers stationed there told Paste BN. For civilians, Alaska had the second-highest suicide rate in the nation in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest data. Wyoming had the highest rate.
Another factor in the military's suicide crisis in Alaska has been the Army's struggle to recruit and retain mental health counselors. That has led to delays for soldiers seeking help that are "sometimes too long," said John Pennell, a spokesman for U.S. Army Alaska.
It was in Anchorage that Isackson struggled with what appeared to be the end of his 20-year military career. On April 13, Isackson had seen an Army doctor for a seizure he'd had while at his job in the inspector general's office. The doctor told Isackson that his case would be referred to a board that could force his retirement for medical reasons. He might also lose his driver's license, Isackson was told.
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Interviews with co-workers and the doctor, detailed in an Army report on Isackson's death, showed varying levels of concern about his mental health. The doctor noted that Isackson denied having suicidal thoughts. Two co-workers told investigators that they did not notice any "red flags" about his behavior, according to the report.
'My son gave everything to protect his country'
But another co-worker, a master sergeant, told investigators that Isackson was "highly upset" after the doctor's appointment. The master sergeant, whose name was redacted in the report, also speculated that Isackson had a drinking problem and had smelled of alcohol at work. The master sergeant said he did not know Isackson well enough to understand Isackson's problems but "believed something with him was not right."
Isackson talked to his mother after the appointment. He told her his career in the Army, which had sent him into war zones four times, was likely finished, she said.
"I told my son we would fight this and not to worry," Stevens said. "But that night he did worry."
Isackson later posted a message on Facebook that alarmed his mother and his friends. A copy of the post appears in the Army's investigative report.
"Nothing like having to see a doctor today and being told you shouldn't even be in the Army anymore and your (sic) a piece of crap for still being in," Isackson wrote. "Sorry I have been doing it since I was 17 and spent most of it deployed. I guess this piece of (s----) is a scum bag for putting country first. Sorry you don't see it that way from your office."
Early the next morning, his wife, Heather Isackson, called Alaska State Troopers after finding him dead on the floor of their kitchen with a gunshot wound to his head.
The investigation into Peter Isackson's death remains open, Stevens said. The delay has prevented the family from receiving some of his benefits, said Stevens, who also lives in Alaska.
"No one will truly understand a mother's grief or a wife's until they stand in those shoes," Stevens said. "My son gave everything to protect his country. He sacrificed so many birthdays, holidays and celebrations while he was so many miles away."
The botched report and the ongoing investigation continue to gnaw at her family, Stevens said. The Army's apology, for now, is meaningless, she said.
"An apology demonstrates a heartfelt response to an error – and should demonstrate change," she said. "What has changed? Nothing."
If you are a service member or veteran in crisis or having thoughts of suicide (or know someone who is), call the Military Crisis Line/Veterans Crisis Line for confidential support 24 hours a day: 1-800-273-8255 and press 1; text 838255; or chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat.
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