The namesake of the Brandon Act was honored with a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia on Monday and with the first-ever posthumous membership in the 95-year history of LULAC, the nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization.
Brandon Caserta took his own life at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia in June of 2018. Following his death, investigators discovered a heartfelt letter addressed to his parents, Teri and Patrick Caserta. In the letter, he implored them to undertake the mission he could not complete himself: to ensure that military service members could access mental health services without requiring approval from their commanders and without fear of retaliation.
Determined to honor their son's memory, Teri and Patrick Caserta championed the cause and secured bipartisan support in Congress for the passage of the Brandon Act. The legislation was included in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act and requires a mental health evaluation if a service member seeks mental health services or self-reports a problem. Service members can also seek confidential help outside their chain of command under the act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2021.
"We lost our only son to suicide and are working hard every day to fulfill his wish to help save other service members,” said Patrick Caserta, who co-authored the legislation. “Brandon's legacy is the Brandon Act, and this wreath-laying ceremony acknowledges his sacrifice so others could live."
Teri Caserta, who serves as president of Brandon Caserta Foundation, said the family will also feel the pain of Brandon’s loss.
“However, he left us an important job: ensuring every military service member gets the help they need when experiencing a mental health crisis,” she said. “That is the law now, and we're proud the Brandon Actis making that possible. No man or woman in military uniform should ever have to feel alone again."
LULAC National President Domingo Garcia called the wreath laying at Arlington an important part of healing and reconciliation so that the American military can be strong and always ready to defend the nation.
"I cannot think of a moment or person more fitting in LULAC's history to be granted the first posthumous membership,” he said. “Brandon Caserta gave his life, not out of weakness, but in a moment of decision. He told his parents his act was so that action would be taken to make conditions in the military better and safer for other service members.."
Today, all service branches of the Department of Defense have implemented the Brandon Act and the U.S. Coast Guard is doing the same under the Department of Homeland Security.
To learn more about LULAC, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
