Military suicides shouldn't be just another tragedy of war

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/17/180161/military-suicides-shouldnt-be.html

Military suicides shouldn't be just another tragedy of war
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2013

If every single day one U.S. soldier after another were being shot dead while deployed overseas, surely the American people wouldn't stand for it.

The situation is worse than that. Unofficial Pentagon figures, reported first by The Associated Press, show that, 349 active-duty service members took their own lives in 2012.

The military rate is lower than in the general population, but that's no consolation. Troop suicides, the most in 11 years of tracking, exceeded military deaths last year: 310 in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, Time magazine military writer Mark Thompson reported Tuesday.

The suicides are each unique but with common threads, he wrote: "The post-9/11 stress of military life is real, even if some of those in uniform have never been in a war zone."

[NYC_SKP]

1. On average, US veterans commit 18 suicides per day. Successful suicides. Per DAY!

[Victor_c3]

2. I was going to say that article mostly address active duty suicides

I can tell you that the stress and the issues from my deployment got way more intense when I left the military and entered civilian life. Being around Soldiers and people who have all experienced similar things as me really helped me keep it together when I was in the Army. Getting out and trying to live a normal life has been a bitch.

[Downwinder]

3. They ought to go back and look at post Vietnam.

[WooWooWoo]

4. I think a lot of the suicides have little to do with combat stress

I'm sure there are, but from what I've seen at least in the army, is that there are a LOT of individuals who have personal problems - either with money, or with relationships, or undiagnosed mental illnesses.