Reported from Washington in yesterday's St Paul Pioneer Press, 83 soldiers committed suicide in 2005, up from 67 in 2004 and 60 in 2003 (the year we invaded Iraq). In 2005, 25 of the confirmed suicides were soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

First off, it pisses me off that we have this high a number of our troops who are slipping through the cracks. Surely there are folks in their circle that pick up on something; the NCO's and company commanders are not seeing any signals? The military have been instituting practices and procedures to work with those having difficulties, in an attempt to intervene and lower the numbers of suicides. Obviously though, they are not doing enough yet.

Second, it REALLY pisses me off that we will never see a similar article regarding auto mechanics, or airline employees, or service workers.....this is just as biased a job of reporting as the sensationalism they attempt to tie to varied workplace shootings. Why is this being reported? What purpose (or agenda) is being served?

Anyway, I think it sux that this many of our young people who have joined the military to serve their country are instead being lost among the many, and finding only one option left available. That is truly depressing.

Bodies fill the fields I see, hungry heroes end
No one to play soldier now, no one to pretend
running blind through killing fields, bred to kill them all
Victim of what said should be
a servant `til I fall

[Chorus:]
Soldier boy, made of clay
now an empty shell
twenty one, only son
but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
Do just as we say
finished here, Greeting Death
he's yours to take away

Back to the front
you will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front
you will die when I say, you must die
Back to the front
you coward
you servant
you blindman
[End Chorus]

Barking of machinegun fire, does nothing to me now
sounding of the clock that ticks, get used to it somehow
More a man, more stripes you {WEAR}, glory seeker trends <---------
bodies fill the fields I see
the slaughter never ends

[Chorus]

Why, Am I dying?
Kill, have no fear
Lie, live off lying
Hell, Hell is here

I was born for dying

Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say
had no chance to see myself, molded day by day
Looking back I realize, nothing have I done
left to die with only friend
Alone I clench my gun

[Chorus]

Back to the front.

L2 Hetfield!

I know efforts are up in the USAF to be alert to your workmates and their worries.

Wingman day is something we do almost monthly at work. Suicide prevention among other sorts of clincs are taught.

It's something we should all be doing with those around us. Don't isolate them and don't allow them to isolate themselves.

I assume something similar is going on in the other branches. Pretty new program and perhaps it's not bearing fruit yet. But I think it's steps in the right direction.

My heart and prayers go out to the true victims of suicide. Their families and loved ones left behind to bear the pain.

Fandros

I had 3 friends kill themself my senior year of high school. Twelve years later, I still wish there was more I could have done for them. I like hearing they have coping mechinisms in place now at least in the USAF Fanny. Going to war would be hard to cope with. Coming home and seeing how much has changed would be just as hard, if not harder with which to cope.

I don't know if I agree with you about not publishing the numbers though By, imo, these casualties are just as important to keep tabs on as the ones killed by direct combat. Many of these suicides were probably casualties of war in their own regard.

Is the rise in suicides due to combat experiences?

Fandros is right about the victims of suicide being those left behind.

Those who commit suicide die only a single death....those left behind die a thousand deaths...

During the time that I was in the military, I knew two people that committed suicide. One was exactly as the 'warning signs' trainings play it out to be (I didn't know him, but he was in the same class I was in) - depressed, lonely guy, sells off some of his prized possessions for cheap, etc. A couple of days later, he shot himself in the head.

Second guy was a First Class (E-6 for you non-navy types) who had hit his 20 year point and was forcibly retired since he hadn't screened for E-7. The very day after he retired, he killed himself. He left behind his wife and 2 kids. His case was very different in that there was no indications that he was intending to kill himself - to all outward appearances he was happy that he was retiring.

The thing about the submarine force in particular (I cant speak for the rest of the military, obviously) is that there is a atmosphere/attitude? of machismo that is pushed onto people. In essence, if you're having problems/feeling depressed, etc, you're told to 'suck it up and get back to work'. It's rare that people follow up on people asking for help (in the myriad of ways that people ask for help, without actually saying "I need help").

I saw this happen on many occasions. On one of the occasions when an E-7 had told his sailor that, I spoke to the sailor's division officer (who happened to be my roommate) and told him that he needed to get this kid some help. He did, and it turned out that the kid had a full plan on committing suicide (note, gun, everything). We got him off the boat, and got him some more help. Last I heard he was doing well, though that was 3 years ago now.

Although I felt good about helping out (and maybe saving) the kid, it pissed me off that such an attitude was displayed by the chief. That said, there's a reason the chief was like that. There's a LOT of people that enlist and decide that the navy wasnt what they thought it would be (see the world!), so they play the 'depressed/suicidal' card in an attempt to get off the boat and get a cushy shore job until they're honorably/administratively discharged. The problem is that these people mask those that are actually having problems and are brave enough to tell someone about it - and it's gotta be hard to do, as well as embarassing.

Hence, when someone does give the warning signs and kills themselves, everyone says 'why didnt you see it coming and get them help?!'. The reason is that because there's a lot* of people giving warning signs intentionally, and it's hard to discern those just trying to slack, and those that actually have real problems. In general, it seems to be those with the warning signs that are hardest to spot that are the ones that actually have problems.

That said, I agree with the statement that it's annoying that no other groups statistics are kept with any accuracy. I would guess that the military doesnt see that much higher of a suicide rate than society in general. Of course, I could be totally wrong on that, but 83 out of all the military personnel (what's the total now? 1.5 million active duty?) doesnt seem like an extraordinarily high percentage. Twenty-five out of all the military in Iraq also doesnt seem (on the surface) as a high number, given what should be obviously very high stress on the personnel there.

*Lot is a relative term - lot in this case means more frequent than rare, but not common.

During my 'vacation' in Kosovo, I think I attended at least a dozen (no exageration) suicide awareness classes. I guess every rotation before us had at least one suicide. Ours was the first that didn't.

The military is a high stress enviroment, of that there is no doubt. Add in on top of that the stress of deployments, and even more so the stress from things on the home front. With more and more soldiers being gone, there is a greater chance for drama at home.

Wives cheating (*cough*) kids acting out because their parents are gone, etc. That on top of everything else can be enough to break even the strongest of people.

Best thing to do for it, is watch out for the warning signs, and the one thing that I think has helped keep the number from being even higher, is the military's new outlook on mental healthcare. Before you were pretty much the town pariah if you sought help, now it's damn near mandatory after any serious incident.

Recently the Alaska Army National Guard lost a blackhawk, all 12 aboard were killed in the the incident, afterwards the military coordinated counseling for both my friends still over in Iraq, and those of us in the unit back home. The toll on people can be overwhelming, but despite the rise in raw numbers, much, much more has been and is being done to help those that need it. I think the numbers would be much greater if it weren't for the new programs in place.

But for all that, the best way to help prevent it, is to check up on your battle buddy.

When I was in the 1st Gulf War, we were pretty lucky. I don't remember hearing anything about Suicides at that point.
But the situation this generation is facing is WAY more perilous. Not only to the ones that don't make it back, but the ones that do, and can't seem to cope.
Remember, we owe our freedom to them, even though we may not all agree to the reasons as to why and where they fight.
Thank a Soldier/Airman/Marine/Sailor whenever you see them. It might make the difference they need.

When I was in the 1st Gulf War, we were pretty lucky. I don't remember hearing anything about Suicides at that point.
But the situation this generation is facing is WAY more perilous. Not only to the ones that don't make it back, but the ones that do, and can't seem to cope.
Remember, we owe our freedom to them, even though we may not all agree to the reasons as to why and where they fight.
Thank a Soldier/Airman/Marine/Sailor whenever you see them. It might make the difference they need.


I thought you had posted once and said you had not been able to enlist due to physical limitations. I dont have time to find it, but I'm sure someone will track it down. That being said, how did you get into the first gulf war?

I broke my Leg after I got out. Spiral fracture of the Right Fib and Tib trying to Roller Skate on the Ex-wife's 32nd birthday. When it healed, the Fibula fused short, and won't allow me to run on it, without breaking and allowing it to refuse. That's the reason I can't reenlist.
When I joined the 1st time, I was fit for duty.

Spiral fracture I saw one of those on the Discovery channel once. Ouch.

I broke my Leg after I got out. Spiral fracture of the Right Fib and Tib trying to Roller Skate on the Ex-wife's 32nd birthday. When it healed, the Fibula fused short, and won't allow me to run on it, without breaking and allowing it to refuse. That's the reason I can't reenlist.
When I joined the 1st time, I was fit for duty.

I vaguely remember when you did that. It was shortly after Evil Rita lost your contract?

Yeah, I came back right after and did a short term contract. I think you were gone by then, but if you ask Dan or Frank, they'll tell you I had a very bad limp.

Resurrection!

Some more info (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/13/military.suicides.ap/index.html) on this stuff, if anyone was still interested:

HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- U.S. military troops with severe psychological problems have been sent to Iraq or kept in combat, even when superiors have been aware of signs of mental illness, a newspaper reported in its Sunday editions.

The Hartford Courant, citing records obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act and more than 100 interviews of families and military personnel, reported numerous cases in which the military failed to follow its own regulations in screening, treating and evacuating mentally unfit troops from Iraq.
In 1997, Congress ordered the military to assess the mental health of all deploying troops. The newspaper, citing Pentagon statistics, said fewer than 1 in 300 service members were referred to a mental health professional before shipping out for Iraq as of October 2005.

Twenty-two U.S. troops committed suicide in Iraq last year. That number accounts for nearly one in five of all noncombat deaths and was the highest suicide rate since the war started, the newspaper said.

The paper reported that some service members who committed suicide in 2004 or 2005 were kept on duty despite clear signs of mental distress, sometimes after being prescribed antidepressants with little or no mental health counseling or monitoring. Those findings conflict with regulations adopted last year by the Army that caution against the use of antidepressants for "extended deployments."

Although Defense Department standards for enlistment disqualify recruits who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, the military also is redeploying service members to Iraq who fit that criteria, the newspaper said.

"I can't imagine something more irresponsible than putting a soldier suffering from stress on (antidepressants), when you know these drugs can cause people to become suicidal and homicidal," said Vera Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, a New York-based advocacy group. "You're creating chemically activated time bombs."

Commanders, not medical professionals, have final say over whether a troubled soldier is retained in a war zone. Col. Elspeth Ritchie, the Army's top mental health expert, and other military officials said they believe most commanders are alert to mental health problems and are open to referring troubled soldiers for treatment.

Ritchie acknowledged that some deployment practices, such as sending service members diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome back into combat, have been driven in part by a troop shortage.

"The challenge for us ... is that the Army has a mission to fight. And, as you know, recruiting has been a challenge," she said. "And so we have to weigh the needs of the Army, the needs of the mission, with the soldiers' personal needs."

Ritchie insisted the military works hard to prevent suicides, but it is a challenge because every soldier has access to a weapon.

"I'm concerned that people who are symptomatic are being sent back. That has not happened before in our country," said Arthur S. Blank Jr., a Yale-trained psychiatrist who helped get post-traumatic stress disorder recognized as a diagnosis after the Vietnam War.

Maj. Andrew Efaw, a judge advocate general officer in the Army Reserves who handled trial defenses for soldiers in northern Iraq last year, said commanders don't want to send mentally ill soldiers into combat.

"But on the other hand, [the com mender] doesn't want to send a message to his troops that if you act up, he's willing to send you home," Efaw said.
The bolded part references a bit to one of the issues about this that I posted a while ago.