Military Suicide
At least 115 of our soldiers committed suicide in 2007 and 166 attempted suicide.
One of he the things the Pentagon is not speaking out about is suicide in the Military. At least 115 soldiers killed themselves in 2007 up from 102 in 2006. Nearly a third of them died at the battlefront. But 26 of them had never deployed to a conflict. Many things contribute. The long deployments away from home, exposure to terrible, horrifying things, and the availability of guns. A time when help is short and long hours are the norm.
“All of these things are contributing factors.” said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatric consultant to the Army surgeon general. More U.S. troops died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. deaths increased in Iraq even as violence there declined. Increasing the strain last year was the extension of deployment from 12 to 15 months.
The rate of suicide continues to rise in spite of efforts the Army has made to improve mental health conditions, including hiring more mental health workers and easing the stigma about seeking help.
There have been 38 confirmed suicides in 2008 and 12 more being investigated. In addition to the known suicides there have been 166 attempted suicides among troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and 935 over the entire Army. The majority of soldiers who killed themselves did not have a history of mental disorders. Seven percent of those had served multiple tours of duty in the wars. Young, white unmarried junior enlisted troops were the most likely to commit suicide.
Who can wonder at the statistics? Most of our troops are youngsters, straight out of high school who have had no experience with the harsh realities of life, much less war. I have never understood why we send our youngest and least prepared to fight our battles. If there must be war, it is a job for older mature men and women, not our children.
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User Comments
neelam
On June 5, 2008 at 11:19 am
a wonderful eye opener. it will instigate anyone who will read this article to think about this harshness seriously
Rachel
On June 5, 2008 at 12:18 pm
This is very disturbing. So sad.
IcyCucky
On June 5, 2008 at 3:13 pm
This is terrible!
nobert soloria bermosa
On June 5, 2008 at 6:59 pm
there must be something wrong,that’s sad
Darlene McFarlane
On June 5, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Like nobert said, it is sad.
Francie
On June 5, 2008 at 10:29 pm
This is very difficult to hear, I agree the maturity level of such young men should be taken into consideration. I have always believed there should be a very good mental health program in place for our men and women serving in the military.
Dee Huff
On June 7, 2008 at 4:19 am
How very sad.
Ruby Hawk
On June 7, 2008 at 12:05 pm
It was an eye opener for me. It’s hard to think that death is a better choice than living another day of life in the Army. Even for those not in the war zones.But young kids away from home for the first time are not prepared for the life of a soldier It is a hard life at best and unbarable for some of these youngsters.
I thank you all for your comments and interest.
PR Mace
On June 7, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Opened my eyes. My husband is retired navy and he enlisted at 18. I agree we should not send our children to war. They are not ready for the horror.
Lucy Lockett
On June 7, 2008 at 11:26 pm
This is very sad news to me.
Amos
On June 8, 2008 at 10:31 pm
These lads should be at home in school. For shame on us.
Mingo
On June 8, 2008 at 10:33 pm
18 is old enough to fight.
Hannah
On June 11, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I am so sorry for what our youngsters are going through.We need another way to live and leave our children in peace.
Trish
On June 20, 2008 at 8:17 pm
This is the saddest thing I have heard about the war yet.
Daisy Peasblossom
On March 28, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I’ve wondered about this. We won’t even let our youngsters pretend to be cops and robbers at school these days…then we send these gently reared lads into one of the most horrible things humans can do to each other. Ruby, you would like Leslie Fish’s song “Cripple’s Shield Wall”. It is her comment on the draft. We don’t have that anymore, but I’m with you. Sending our young ones is heart-breaking at best, and probably pretty foolish in the long run.
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