Soldier's mom: 'Get up and go on'

Devin Schuette joined the Army soon after graduating from House High School in 1999.

He made the military a career, deploying three times to Iraq between 2003 and 2009.

And one year ago today, Staff Sgt. Schuette, 35, committed suicide in a vehicle at a lake near Fort Hood, Texas, where he was stationed.

"He felt like he was broken," his mother said.

Karen Alexander said at the time she couldn't see any good coming from her son's death.

But after a year spent trying to understand what happened, she's finding purpose in the tragedy.

"I had no idea the suicide rate was so high, especially in the military," she said.

She's learned that an estimated 22 military service members take their own lives every day. And so she has dedicated herself to raising awareness, hoping to reduce that number.

"I have been in contact with a lot of Devin's friends that he was in the Army with," she said. "They have been very supportive of me and I hope that I can also help them."

Some of those friends, like her son, suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Alexander said.

"So I just try to encourage them and send them little messages sometimes that say 'You're important and you're special to me.' Little things like that can help somebody that's not feeling good about themselves."

Devin's death has also brought her closer to God and closer to her family, she said.

In September, Alexander and other family members got together at Black Mesa State Park in Oklahoma.

"Devin loved hiking," she said, "and so the day before his birthday, that's what the family did."

They marched eight miles in all, carrying pictures of Devin and wearing "22toomany" bracelets in his honor.

"We had 22 family members," she said. "It's little things like that that I take as signs that Devin is watching over us and still with us in spirit."

She hopes that talking about her son will help others.

"People who commit suicide have got to be hurting really bad," she said.

Devin, she said, was a perfectionist, and probably "feeling like he was not good enough."

"But it's not a bad thing to feel incomplete. It is definitely something that needs to be talked about."

Talking about it doesn't erase the pain, of course.

"I'm still struggling with this. I'll never get over it," she said.

"Some days, everything is fine and then I'll just break down in tears for a few seconds. And sometimes I'll just cry all day. But then I'll get up and go on."

Get up and go on as best you can, Karen Alexander.

Your help is needed.

David Stevens is editor for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]

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