VA Losses at Ft Hood

WASHINGTON - - In the midst of providing mental health services and other support to the Ft. Hood community following the recent shooting, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) learned about its own losses from the violence. Two VA employees, both serving on active duty with their Army Reserve units, were among the slain. A third VA health care worker on reserve duty was seriously wounded.

“Speaking for the entire VA family, I offer heart-felt condolences to the families of these dedicated VA employees,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “They devoted their working lives to care for our Veterans, and they died in uniform, preparing to safeguard our Nation’s freedom.”

Russell G. Seager, Ph.D., a 51-year old nurse practitioner at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee was killed in the deadly attack. He was a captain in the reserves. In his VA duties, he led a mental health team treating a wide variety of Veteran patients, from the youngest combat Veterans just back from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, to World War II Veterans dealing with depression.