Soldiers family disagrees with VA's report, but won't keep fighting

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http://www.kare11.com/news/ts_article.aspx?storyid=251325

Family and friends of a Marine who committed suicide after his return from Iraq said they "respectfully disagree" with a report that cleared the St. Cloud VA Medical Center, but they don't plan to sue or seek another investigation.

Jonathan Schulze's family has maintained he told hospital staff twice that he was suicidal in the days before he hanged himself in New Prague on Jan. 16, but was turned away.

However, a report by the Department of Veterans Affairs earlier this month concluded there was no evidence of that, and that the record was in fact "diametrically opposed" to the family's claims.

Family friend Robert Herubin told reporters Monday they "respectfully disagree," but he declined to address the specifics of the report issued April 7 by the VA's Office of the Medical Inspector.

Schulze had made at least 40 visits to the VA hospital in Minneapolis, where doctors diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, the report said. But it said mental health workers at the St. Cloud hospital told investigators Schulze never mentioned suicide to them, and they would have taken it seriously if he had.