Thread by @MollyBeck

They went overseas together. They got home safely. Within months, all four Wisconsin National Guardsmen took their own lives.

@katelynferral and @brophy_natalie have found officials failed to keep pace with the mental health burden facing the Guard. usatoday.com/in-depth/news/…

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Interviews with Guard members, families and military suicide experts reveal soldiers struggling to access basic mental health care. In Wisconsin, the Guard has only three social workers for about 9,400 members.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, the commander in chief of the state Guard, said in an interview, “One suicide is unacceptable, and four is four times unacceptable."

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie But he offered no new initiatives, saying current prevention and support programs are working. "At the end of the day, I believe we are headed in the right direction,” he said.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin’s top Guard official, said in an interview that the state force investigates all suicides and has also opened a separate inquiry into the 127th infantry unit, the 650-member force in which four soldiers died by suicide.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie “It breaks my heart to lose a service member from our formation,” he said.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie But when the Journal Sentinel requested records related to the investigations, the Wisconsin Guard wouldn’t release them, referring the news organization to the national bureau. A request there is pending; the wait-time for such records is up to two years.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Knapp would not say how many Wisconsin Guard members have died by suicide over the past five years, citing guidance from the federal bureau. The Journal Sentinel asked the bureau for the data, but the request was denied.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Guard expert and University of SoCal law professor, said: “It is shocking that the National Guard leadership is not open and honest about how it investigates suicides. The investigations are not state secrets or sensitive information that must be hidden from public view.”

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Though it is difficult to say why any one of the Wisconsin men died by suicide, the Guard was central to their lives, and three expressed frustration with their experiences.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Specialist Evan Olson, a 24-year-old from Waunakee, had a penchant for trivia and wore red, white and blue every 7/4. Specialist Logan Collison, 21, was an exceptional artist and wanted to be a history teacher. He was from Oshkosh.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Specialist James Swetlik, a 23-year-old from Appleton, enjoyed traveling, at one time working as a cross-country truck driver.

@katelynferral @brophy_natalie Sergeant Eric Richley, at 32, was the oldest of the four. He lived in Nichols and was the father of two boys, ages 7 and 9.

Now, Richley’s ashes are in an urn on the fireplace mantle in his mother’s home, next to a folded American flag.