Tragedies highlight need for mental health checks for vets

In less than 24 hours, and only a few hours into 2024, two military service members were named as suspects in horrifying and puzzling acts. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, was a veteran of the Army and authorities say he pledged allegiance to ISIS before ramming his truck into a crowd in New Orleans, leaving 14 people dead. Authorities say Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret, shot himself in the head after detonating an improvised explosive device outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

As they scramble to find the “why” for both incidents, the commonality of service between the two suspects highlights the absolute need for mental health checks for veterans and active-duty military members.

For Jabbar, it is extremely easy to just blame Islam. Now, I am not going to tell you that the ultra-fundamentalist Islamic State is not a problem. Their legacy of death has spanned the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. But, somewhere along the way, Jabbar ran into familial and financial trouble. He may have looked for help or he may have kept it all to himself. But at some point, his troubles made him turn to rage and there he found solace in the hatred that ISIS espouses.

The FBI will pull back the layers of his life to find out how he went down the ISIS rabbit hole. But someone should look to see if Jabbar sought help from the VA or elsewhere for his issues. He deployed overseas to Afghanistan, so was he screened for PTSD when he returned? Did he seek out help? But most importantly, should we start making it mandatory for veterans to have mental health screenings after they leave the service?  

Mental health issues can arise years after the fact. Many veterans, because of pressure or pride, will deny anything is wrong with them when they first leave service. However, for some they can feel perfectly fine, and the specter of war comes to haunt them years after the fact. For some, the anxiety and depression start once the connection to the military is severed as they struggle to fit into a society that doesn’t understand them. 

A major question that should be asked not just about Jabbar but every veteran who is at risk of radicalization, suicide, homelessness or social isolation is if we should now make it a requirement for veterans to be seen and screened.

Moving on to Livelsberger, the actions he is alleged to have carried out may be even more puzzling to the average American. He was a Green Beret, and our ideal picture of those guys are the toughest of the tough. Livelsberger seems to embody that. His uncle called him a “100% patriot” and “Rambo-type.” However, as with Jabbar and veterans, we also need to ask if we need to screen our best and toughest more often for mental health issues while they are still in service.

The military brass will say no. It would affect military readiness, deployment cycles and would be seen as weak. But there is no doubt the constant danger and stress of training for our best does take a toll on even the toughest soldiers, sailors, and marines. Did Livelsberger show any signs of PTSD or depression, and should our military do a better job of screening those who have intense combat billets and deployment cycles?

The answer is yes, but in this age of DOGE, budget fights and accusations of the military being “woke” or “weak,” it doesn’t look like this will happen. Instead, the military will insist that their mental health screenings are enough, and the VA will say they don’t have enough money to keep track of high-risk veterans. So, as we start off 2025 with more death and terror, we are going to ask why these events keep happening. Maybe we should ask are we doing enough for our veterans to stop it from happening. 

Jos Joseph is a master’s candidate at the Harvard Extension School at Harvard University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and lives in Anaheim, Calif.