BILLINGS — Montana National Guard Spec. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.

Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.

Since Dana’s death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans. Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he’s been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife Sandy and their infant daughter Fiona.

Kuntz was heavy with emotion, but hopeful and eager to share Dana’s story, and tell the senator about his work to ensure other Montana veterans aren’t suffering from the same condition that made his step-brother take his life.

“After we lost Chris we went around the state telling the story and asking the people of Montana demand government fix it,” Kuntz said after the meeting.

His work has paid off. Recently, the Montana National Guard formed a PTSD task force, and implemented more than a dozen changes in its policies in an effort to address PTSD and traumatic brain injuries in returning soldiers.

A key initiative in the new plan is to screen all returning soldiers every six months for two years after their tour of duty, Kuntz said.

Now, Kuntz wants to see the same procedure implemented in every state and in every branch of the military. Obama agreed.

“It really, really touched me that he wants to take it national,” Kuntz said.

Kuntz is a 1999 graduate of West Point Military Academy, but his military career was cut short after he was injured in Army Ranger school.

“Chris was a brave guy and wanted to serve his country and he did. He did more than I ever could have,” Kuntz said.