(FOX 2) – On a day meant to support veterans, Detroit instead lost one of their own when Sven Taranto died by suicide.
The heartbreaking case is a reminder of the wounds that men and women bring home with them, both seen and unseen. In Sven’s case, he suffered silently from PTSD and other trauma that he never healed from.
Taranto, 47, served eight years in the U.S. Army and committed his service in Iran where he survived multiple attacks, including one from a military truck explosion.
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According to Detroit Power Detroit Community Outreach, where Taranto stayed in the days leading up to his death, he was a German-Jewish immigrant and been through a lot.
After his dad died, Taranto spent years in isolation, not speaking with anyone.
When he came to Detroit Power, his caretakers said he was improving. However, securing benefits intended for veterans, was a constant struggle. Part of the fight was due to having multiple citizenships.
“The fact he’d been fighting for his service-connected (benefits) and serving the country – the things he did in the military – that’s terrible he had to go through that,” Marvin Walker, owner of Detroit Power Detroit Community Outreach. “Every day we were fighting for something with him. His citizenship, his insurance, things that he didn’t have that could’ve actually helped him. To where that mental health issue, he still would’ve had it, but it wouldn’t have been that bad.”
According to the officials at Detroit Power, getting the proper benefits for veterans is always a challenge.
“It’s extremely hard,” said Angel Carter, the program director at Detroit Power Detroit Community Outreach. “They want to wait until they’re 70, 80 on their deathbed to try to get them their benefits and it’s just red tape. I get it, there’s layers to this, but these are veterans. They fought for our country. So why not just give them the benefit and the service-connection, things they need to get the mental health support they need? Mental health is real.”
What you can do:
A Gofundme for Taranto was set up to help give him an honorable funeral and memorial.
The Source: Detroit Power Detroit Community Outreach was cited for this story.