Seth graduated in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in administrative justice. Facing a tight job market after the 2001 terrorist attacks, he decided to join the Army. Five days before leaving for Iraq, Seth married his high school sweetheart.
Dvorin built a model helicopter for Seth, and had planned to give it to him when he returned home.
Seth's mother, Sue Niederer, coped with his death with activism. Seven months after he was killed, Niederer wore a T-shirt that read "President Bush, You Killed My Son" to a speech by Laura Bush, interrupting her to ask when her children were going to serve. She teamed up with another mother, Cindy Sheehan, who gained international fame by camping outside Bush's Texas ranch to demonstrate against the war after her son was killed.
Dvorin felt angry too, but he didn't take part in protests. He couldn't bring himself to tinker with his model planes or trains anymore, and he couldn't bear to look at Seth's helicopter. A retired New Brunswick cop, Dvorin had encountered violence and death, but the only time he remembers crying was when his father passed away. Now, he cries at least twice a day.
In 2005, a notice about a support hotline, Cop to Cop, arrived in his mail. It was started a decade ago to help cut the high rate of suicide among New Jersey police officers. The program recruits law enforcement officials to field calls. Dvorin signed up to volunteer.
He soon learned that the organizers had launched another hotline, called Vet to Vet, in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. It began as a support network for veterans, in response to the growing number of suicides among U.S. troops, offering help to soldiers coming home with emotional problems.
In 2006, there were 102 military suicides, compared with 87 in 2005. So far 89 suicides have been confirmed in 2007, with 32 other active-duty deaths under investigation, according to U.S. military statistics. There has also been a rise in suicide attempts, with more than 2,000 in 2007, compared with about 1,400 the year before, and 350 in 2002.
Dvorin, who had served in the Air Force, decided to volunteer for the veterans hotline too. The call center has been busier in recent months because New Jersey is preparing to deploy 4,000 troops in June -- the largest number since the war began, according to Stephen G. Abel of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. About a third have already served in the war at least once, he said.
