To begin, my thoughts & prayers go out to the grieving families in Washington.

In light of the still-unfolding events at Mt. Ranier, I'd like to examine and evaluate the media releases about the situation.

"A plane searching the remote wilderness for Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, on Monday discovered his body lying partially submerged in an icy, snowy mountain creek with snow banks standing several feet high on each side.

"He was wearing T-shirt, a pair of jeans and one tennis shoe. That was it," Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Barnes did not have any external wounds and appears to have died due to the elements, he said. A medical examiner was at the scene to determine the cause of death. Troyer said two weapons were recovered, but he declined to say where they were located."

It had been reported that the young man had survival training and was hinted that he may have had "survivalist" ties.

If the man had training beyond that from the Army, his mental condition prevented him from utilizing it. As an Army veteran, most of my survival training was very basic and directly linked to specific environments (jungle, desert, etc.).

Can we appeal to our government to provide better care for our veterans?

Is there anything we can do to disassociate what we do from media perceptions?

Again, I am very sad to see a veteran brought so low and that he so badly affected the lives of others.