A Cry For Help Is Quickly Silenced:
Grandpa Shouldn't Have Left Tim Alone
I really have no right to point fingers. After all, Tim's paternal grandfather couldn't possibly have known about the tragic chain of events that would transpire after his grandson got back from the Gulf war. How could he? And yet, the burning question still haunts us today: If Tim's grandfather had stayed with him when he came running over to the man's house in the middle of winter, clad only in track pants and wearing no shirt or boots, then perhaps it could have been observed that Tim was in a very precarious frame of mind. Grandpa McVeigh told him to come in out of the cold, but then he left his troubled and anxiety-ridden grandson in the house while he went out.
Now, I know that I wasn't there and it has been documented that Tim appreciated the fact that grandpa trusted him enough to let him stay and decompress. Still, had someone in his family had noticed that Tim had been psychologically worn down by the events that transpired in the Persian Gulf and was, for all intents and purposes, then perhaps he would have received the care that he needed. But it's all moot now. Tim didn't want to check himself in to the Veteran's Hospital, as he feared that this might prove to be a smudge on his resume, so in that respect, he was cutting himself off from a safe haven that would have gotten to the bottom of Tim's depression and despair.
Tim's is a cautionary tale of what terrible demands and untold sadness can do to a previously healthy psyche. Like the Vietnam veterans who returned from war and were vilified, Tim and his company, though being heralded as heroes upon their return, were saddled with dark memories that would never fade.
Somebody should have listened. And taken charge when there was still time to avert sobering disaster.
