O
HUFFINGTON
09.22.13
ON THE EARLY EVENING of March 15, 2011, in the bedroom of a
two-story red brick townhouse in Virginia Beach, Va., Navy Petty
Officer Joshua Lipstein put a .45-caliber Glock 21 pistol to his right
temple and pulled the trigger. He was 23 years old. ¶ The Navy,
after an investigation, ruled that Joshua died “in the line of duty and
not due to his own misconduct.” ¶ The real story is more complicated.
More confusing. More heartbreaking. ¶ His story is unique, but
it also reflects the struggles of the 301 active-duty military men and
women who died by suicide that year, part of a growing toll of
invisible casualties. ¶ It is difficult to reconcile Joshua’s last desperate
act with the outward blessings of
his life. He was young, smart, capable and well-liked. He was recently
married and doted on his infant
daughter. He was close to and loved
by his dad, Don Lipstein, his sister,
Emily, and brother, Andrew.
And yet, like many afflicted by
thoughts of suicide, he was fighting an undertow so powerful that
it was largely invisible to those
who loved him, until it was too
late. At times, they felt they had
somehow failed him.
“What did I do wrong as a par-
ent?” Don still wonders. “There
may have been something I could
have done to affect the outcome.
But I did the best I could.”
It was Joshua’s wife, Leslie, late
that afternoon, who alerted Don
that Joshua was talking about suicide. “I don’t know what to do,”
she said in a call from their home
in Texas. She didn’t know where
Joshua was, and she was frightened. “He doesn’t sound good at
all,” she said.
Rattled, Don dialed Joshua’s
cell phone. He waited, silently
begging Joshua to answer. He was
scared about what to say, what
not to say. Seconds passed. Final-