Perspective: Spouses getting treatment for their own combat stress

Travis Patriquin

FRIEDBERG, Germany — A week after Capt. Travis Patriquin and Spc. Vincent Pomante III died in combat last month, the spouses of soldiers who knew the men or who had provided support to the grieving families met to talk.

The dozen or so wives gathered in the Friedberg chapel annex, in the room used for Sunday school and receptions. A circle developed and the overhead lights were dimmed. Chaplain Bruce Fredrickson, an Army colonel, was the first to speak about the deaths and the pain and anxiety that followed, and soon others in the room began to share their feelings.

One of the spouses in the room that evening was Courtney Slack. Her husband, Capt. Andrew Slack, had shared quarters with Patriquin in Iraq. Having spent nearly a year together, the two 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division soldiers had bonded in a way only combat veterans can fully appreciate.

“I really didn’t know how to make him (Andrew) feel better,” Courtney Slack recalled Friday. After the fatal bomb attack, “whenever he called, he just wanted to talk about other stuff.”

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