By LINDA F. HERSEY | STARS AND STRIPES | November 21, 2023
Kenneth Landry was deployed in Kuwait as an air-traffic controller with Air Force special operations in 2014 when an ATV rollover knocked him unconscious and pinned him underneath the vehicle.
Landry was pulled out by fellow service members and airlifted to Germany, where he was hospitalized in intensive care with trauma to his head, back and femur. He received treatment for a “crush injury” and concussion, followed by rehabilitation, including therapy at a traumatic brain injury clinic.
He remained on active duty, yet his life was never the same. Problems with concentration, headaches, insomnia, and anxiety dogged him. He was honorably discharged in August 2015 but harbored hopes to re-enlist.
Six years later — on Oct. 1, 2021 — Landry put on his military uniform, walked into the bathroom at his California home and shot himself to death. He was 33 years old.
His suicide occurred 72 hours after he contacted the veteran National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 2:14 a.m. about a late prescription and ongoing family turmoil, according to Landry’s medical records from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which his widow, Kathryn Landry, shared with Stars and Stripes.
During the half-hour call, Landry said he had no thoughts or plans to harm himself, but he had considered suicide in the past, according to the hotline’s report of the call, which was included in Landry’s medical records.
But Landry did not answer questions on whether he had access to firearms or a “means to hurt” himself. His suicide risk was listed as “moderate to low.” The counselor forwarded a request for a new refill to his provider.
“This wasn’t a prescription problem. It was a mental health crisis,” said Kathryn Landry, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and herself a Marine Corps veteran. “In the context of his call for help, he said he did not have his medication.”
Kathryn Landry today is seeking benefits related to her husband’s death. But she faces an uphill battle.
The VA in July 2022 rejected her claim for survivor benefits for herself and their young daughter.
“The VA’s response to his death and my family has been appalling,” Kathryn Landry told Stars and Stripes. “The VA processes these claims like they are an insurance company.” She is appealing.
Her claim is one needle in a very large haystack. The VA currently has more than a million pending claims by veterans and their families that await processing.
Nearly a third of those — or more than 300,000 — are considered “backlogged,” because the claimants have been waiting more than 125 days for a decision.
Last year, the Veterans Benefits Administration reviewed more than a record 1.7 million claims, with veterans and surviving family members receiving more than $128 billion in compensation and pensions.
In September, Landry sought a second review from the Veterans Board of Appeals. An attorney she retained said the process could take 18 months to two years because of the volume of pending claims.
“In recent years, the board has resolved about 100,000 appeals each year,” according to a statement on the board’s website about long waits for a decision. “Despite the high numbers of decisions each year, there are still over 200,000 pending appeals waiting in line for a decision.”
Claims include requests for disability compensation, indemnity and dependency compensation for survivors and veterans’ pensions benefits.
Along with each request there is a story of sacrifice, hardship and loss.
“This has been devastating for my family. In an instant, I lost my husband, my daughter’s father and our home. We’ve had to redefine our family,” Kathryn Landry said.
She said the VA denied the claim, finding that the head injury from the ATV rollover was mild enough to be “completely healed within days or a few months.”
The VA’s findings, which Kathryn Landry shared with Stars and Stripes, also pointed to a January 2021 VA evaluation with information about Landry’s preexisting conditions.
The neuro-psychological evaluation found that Kenneth Landry had suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder since childhood and that likely contributed to cognitive challenges.
The report also included information about head trauma prior to military service due to his martial arts activities.
Prior to his death, Kenneth Landry had started to dispute the VA’s medical findings and seek disability coverage related to PTSD and TBI.
He filed a “notice of disagreement” and was collecting documents to support a diagnosis of PTSD and lasting effects from head trauma. “But he did not make it to a lot of those appointments,” Kathryn Landry said.
Contradictory statements by doctors and other providers in Landry’s medical records alternately upheld and denied PTSD and TBI related to military service.
“He was initially assessed for TBI” after the ATV crash, a clinician wrote in Landry’s medical notes in February 2015. But the diagnosis later was “found negative,” the provider wrote.
But Landry may be minimizing his symptoms, the same provider wrote, and “under-reported due to not wanting to end his mission.”
A VA medical exam in March 2016, seven months after discharge, found that Landry did not have PTSD, TBI or lasting impacts from head trauma.
However, the provider’s notes from the one-hour evaluation suggested a more nuanced story. Records state Landry was agitated, suspicious and argumentative.
“He abruptly lunged forward from his seat and made a repeat inquiry about the availability of the provider’s notes,” the clinician wrote. “Veteran declined to continue the evaluation process and so the door was opened.” Landry walked out.
The provider was so concerned that he contacted security, which monitored Landry as he left the building. Despite Landry’s behavior, the VA clinician concluded that Landry had no mental health condition.
The provider checked “No” next to three boxes — for TBI, PTSD or other mental health disorder.
Kathryn Landry is now appealing the VA’s findings and denial of survivor benefits. She described her husband as resilient, persevering through challenges and achieving goals.
But she noticed increasing cognitive challenges that seemed to accelerate in the months prior to his death.
In July 2022, the Veterans Benefits Administration ruled that “it was less likely than not” that Kenneth Landry’s suicide was due to “in-service TBI or undiagnosed PTSD.”
Landry was finishing graduate studies and preparing for a career as a social worker. Posthumously, he earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California.
“Ken was preparing for a career to help other veterans as a social worker,” she said. “I personally witnessed him assisting others in crisis. I just wish the faith he had in others was strong enough to tie him to this earth.”
