Two veterans took their own lives at a San Antonio VA hospital in 2025 while seeking mental health care, underscoring systemic failures that began with a deadly scandal 12 years ago and continue to leave those who served without the care they were promised.
In April 2025, Navy veteran Mark Miller killed himself at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio. He had battled depression and anxiety since leaving the service 19 years ago and co-authored a book with his father, Suicide Stalks the Sniper, chronicling that fight. During his final visit, he told his father the staff were "just like robots handing out pills, poisoning our people." His father, Dr. Larry Miller, said, "I lay the blame on the VA system and the psychiatrist who drugged him instead of helping him."
Five months ago, Marine Corps veteran Enrique Ramos Jr. called 911 from the same parking lot, stated his location and his intent, and then took his own life. Both men died at the doorstep of the facility that was supposed to care for them.
A Pattern of Institutional Failure
The recent tragedies echo a crisis that exploded into public view 12 years ago. In 2014, a major scandal rocked the Phoenix VA Health Care System. Officials there ran a deliberate criminal scheme, creating secret unofficial waiting lists to hide how badly the system was failing. As many as 1,700 veterans were kept off the official electronic wait list to inflate reported wait times and protect bonuses. Veterans were forced to wait months, in some cases up to 115 days or longer, for basic primary care. At least 40 veterans died while waiting on these hidden lists.
Veterans Demand Accountability
Two bills before Congress would address the system that has failed veterans. The Veterans' ACCESS Act (H.R. 740) guarantees timely VA care or the immediate right to seek outside care at no extra cost when the VA can't deliver. The Veterans' Bill of Rights Act requires the VA to plainly inform veterans of their existing rights to health care, benefits, and community care options.
A new poll from Veteran Action and Rasmussen Reports shows that supporting veteran health care is not just good policy, but good politics heading into the 2026 midterms. Ninety-four percent back the Veterans' Bill of Rights Act. Seventy-five percent say they would be more likely to support a congressional candidate who backs the Veterans' ACCESS Act. These numbers cut across party lines among the voters who know the VA best.
Political Stakes Rise
Veterans helped deliver Republican victories in 2024. The poll shows military voters gave President Trump 60% support, but the Republican generic congressional ballot sits at just 57%. That gap could decide control of the House in key districts. Republicans cannot take their loyalty for granted, and candidates who lead on these issues will earn veteran support while those who do not risk losing it and their seats.
Mark Lucas is president of Veteran Action, a board member of Article III Project and a U.S. Army veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He says these bills do not dismantle the VA; they force it to do its job.
Why This Matters:
The deaths of Mark Miller and Enrique Ramos Jr. represent more than individual tragedies—they reveal how institutional failures continue to exact a human cost on those who served. When a public system designed to honor the nation's commitment to veterans instead protects bureaucratic interests through secret wait lists and inadequate mental health care, it betrays a foundational social contract. The overwhelming bipartisan support for reform legislation demonstrates that veterans and their families understand what accountability looks like: guaranteed access to timely care, transparent communication of rights, and consequences when the system fails. As the 2026 midterms approach, the question is whether elected officials will prioritize the lives of those who served or allow a broken status quo to persist. For families like the Millers, the answer will come too late.