Ceremony to recall Marine's life, suicide
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BELCHERTOWN - For five years, members of the Lucey family have struggled to come to terms with a family member's suicide.
On Sunday, they and others will gather for the first public memorial service held for Cpl. Jeffrey Michael Lucey, a 23-year-old Marine reservist who killed himself in 2004.
Though home from a deployment to Iraq, Lucey's family believes his death was related to his military service, saying he died from "the hidden wounds of PTSD."
Though Lucey's death was widely reported, and helped spotlight problems faced by returning military personnel, no public service for him has yet been convened.
"A small group of people thought it was time to recognize there were casualties beyond the formal count, including suicides," said Kevin Lucey, Jeffrey's father. "People came up to us."
Sunday's service begins at 2 p.m. at the Belchertown United Congregational Church, located on the town common at 18 Park St. Along with speakers, the program includes performances by well-known musicians, including Meg Hutchinson and Tracy Grammer.
If weather allows, a display of soldiers' boots, as part of the Eyes Wide Open exhibit, will be set up around noon on the common.
Sunday is the fifth anniversary of Jeffrey Lucey's last full day alive. Lucey, suffering depression and haunted by nightmares, hanged himself June 22, 2004, in his family's basement.
He died not long after being discharged from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds. The VA said it discharged Lucey because it could not assess post-traumatic stress disorder until he was alcohol-free. Lucey's family tried and failed to have him readmitted before his suicide.
The Lucey family brought a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Leeds VA in 2007. Early this year, they accepted a $350,000 settlement.
Between Lucey's death and that settlement more than four years later, awareness has grown about PTSD among returning military personnel. In 2008, the state Department of Veterans Services created a six-member outreach unit to detect suicidal behavior among Massachusetts veterans.
For those who know the Luceys, the pain remains fresh.
"It doesn't seem like five years ago. And we're still there - and the issue of suicide has gotten even bigger," said Barbara Tiner of Leverett, a member of the board of the Veterans Education Project.
Tiner got to know members of the Lucey family after Jeffrey's death in her work with a support group for military families. "I feel that, through Kevin and Joyce (Jeffrey's mother), I've really come to know him," Tiner said of Jeffrey Lucey.
Tiner said Lucey's suicide continues to reverberate in the Valley. "It just hangs heavy on people's hearts."
Of Sunday's service, she said, "The hope is that if they've been touched by the story, they'll come. Kevin wants this to be upbeat, and be about what came from the tragedy and heartbreak."
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