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Return to Article: Army suicides on the rise

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  I would like to consider this sad experience of soldiers and veterans committing suicide has happened before, and I would suggest, for similar reasons. History is repeating itself.

  The vets from the war in Viet Nam (the correct spelling)realized too late our President created a war based on a lie. The moral reasoning for the war, and the experience was more than many could bear. Added to that was the emtional distance from loved ones and the ability for many to reintigrate into a society which denied the experience. The result was the loss of self-worth, and ultimately, taking of their own lives.

  Todays soldiers in Iraq are realizing this was is also a lie by (in my belief) a potentially fraudulent government. The resulting suicides are an indicator the moral threshold of the soldier's has been breached. Our soldiers cannot withstand the moral pain they experience, fighting a war which includes the wholesale killing of innocent people, such as what happened in Viet Nam. They know the morality of this war is wrong, created by psychopathic personalities, and run by a military which will do everything in it's power to create a best face in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

  For more than six years, the Army has discharged more than 22,500 soldiers, after their deployment, on Chaper 5-13, for personality disorders. This way, the soldier can never file with the VA for PTSD, keeping the VA budget down, and the issue of PTSD never reaches corporate media or the public's concern.

  From Mid-September to late October 2007, four suicides were brought to my attention from those closly associated with the events.

  America is suffereing from Post Traumatic Stress Denial. I hope people like Ms. Avila-Smith and others can help Americans recall their senses, and win their cases.

  Ted Engelmann Posted January 7, 2008 2:31 AM
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  It is hard to understand depression that makes you want to end your life let alone for any of us civilians to understand a soldier who comes home with a war in his or her head that does not disappear with time. I made a film called The Ground Truth about soldiers coming home that included the suicide story of Jeffrey Lucey. I met his parents two months after he hung himself in their basement and I have looked for ways to get this issue out effectively ever since. I am stunned that all Americans and soldiers who truly live by the rule of leaving no one behind and who stick together better than most, will allow our military and our government to not count many suicides as casualties of war if one has served. Many families fight and get their deceased benefits so there is some recognition but it comes only with effort and often humiliation. To count these lives would be to admit the ultimate truth - that some can not mentally survive war- something you are trained and told you can do. How frightening that thousands and thousands and thousands have come back from many wars and silently proven millions of dollars of training wrong. Except they don't spend millions training you for weeks and months on how to live and be happy with a mind full of war once you are alone again; they train you to kill and survive. I think the military knows this simply by that ridiculous questioniare they give you when your walking out the door. Not acknowledging suicide deaths is like having to prove you are innocent when war has declared you guilty. The lack of care that many are seeing and the lack of conviction about this war are leaving not all, but some, lost. It is much easier to blame the individual when they are gone than to stand up to the living. We know how strong our military is. It would be good to spend less time worrying about proving how strong our military is and more time thinking deeply about the best way to use all that strength to hold on to those we cared so much for when they were brght and shiny - before they were hard to be with - all I hear is "better to fight over there than here" - these suicides are here. And they are not leaving any time soon.

  patricia foulkrod Posted November 18, 2007 7:46 PM
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  Contrary to another comment posted, the Army chaplains are only able to do as much as the command will allow. I personally have had serious financial issues that neither the state courts in my home town will change, nor the Army assist me to solve this problem. They have interfered in my endeavors to position myself to solve these problems, and not informed me of proper ways to solve them. Because of the need for as many of us to deploy as possible, it was far to easy to overlook the fact that the financial assistance programs have only assisted me once. They have granted me emergency loans but these are only a short term solution to a long term problem. I will admit, I did join the Army for basically 2 reasons, one was I thought my home state would see it as a respectable employment(I was wrong), and two, I chose the job in the military I had been told had the highest chance of being killed. I am not suicidal, but if I could bring myself to the selfish act, I would have done it by now. Point being that when the signs are there for them to see, they ignore or brush them aside to accomplish mission first...like we are taught.

  Phillip Posted October 13, 2007 12:53 PM
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  I would point out that there isn't a "frontline" anymore. This is urban warfare in cities and towns, not restricted to a battlefield.

  Jackie Posted August 27, 2007 12:07 PM
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  In WWII, soldiers served until the war was over. Some cracked up on the battlefield. Psychological disabilities outnumbered all other disabilities combined. In Korea, a point system was used for rotation home, Things improved somewhat. In Vietnam there was a 12-month tour(13 for Marines). Soldiers, etc. held together until they got home, and then Post Traumatic Stress Disorder became so prevalent that it got an offical name. Now, in Iraq, everything that was learned in the past 60 years was thrown out the window, because there aren't enough troops to sustain the war with responsible tours. Remember the stats are only for servicemen and women, and do not count those who have been discharged.

  Ted Bean Posted August 20, 2007 9:22 AM
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  You make a very valid point, Michael. I hope that there will be a follow up that includes that key information.

  Ellen Posted August 19, 2007 4:00 AM
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  I currently serve in the Army and I have been in the Army for twelve years. As a soldier, I receive Suicide Awareness and Intervention training AT LEAST once a year. I have been a chaplain now for five years and I teach this course on a regular basis to ensure that soldiers receive this important training at least once annually. As for those who are Iraq/Afghanistan bound, they are trained before they deploy, before they go home on R&R, and again before they redeploy and yet again after they redeploy. (That has been my experience as a deployed Soldier and as a deployed trainer.) Avila-Smith's statement that the Army does not educate soldiers on this important matter is RECKLESSLY untrue!!!!!!!!!!!

  Ed Posted August 17, 2007 10:28 PM
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  This article was re-titled and re-written since I last commented. Alvan's comment helps to flesh out the issue for me. I think the rates cited actually are favorable for the Army and how it screens recruits. I am proud of the men and women putting their lives at risk to fight the islamic jihad and we will certainly be victorious.

  Michael Posted August 17, 2007 2:34 PM
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  Our warriors are the best in the world. They are the best trained, the best equipped and the best prepared - for most situations. We are constantly improving most all warrior capabilities - save one. The one realm in which we have not improved, in fact, our culture has contributed to its demise, is the spiritual. Wars stretch one's character to the utmost, in a short time period; and require a selfless attitude to accomplish the mission - it is the total team that gets the job done. Our culture is more and more a "me first" culture - self-centered/selfish. Since suicide is the ultimate selfish act, it is no wonder that suicides are increasing. Our warriors need the proper "attitude training," that of selfless service, in order to combat the selfishness on which their spiritual lives have been fattened (much like in the physical realm they must reduce the fat and increase the muscle during basic training).

  Spritually, the best training is what the Christian Chaplains have been teaching for many years, but seems to have been pushed down more and more in recent years.

  William A. Hill Posted August 17, 2007 1:47 PM
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  Just 1 suicide is a tragedy, wonder how much impact John Murtha and Harry Reid's comments about the war and warriors had to do with this

  dan ketter Posted August 17, 2007 1:31 PM
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  Let's be real here. There is a tremendous amount of stress on individuals and families with single and multiple deployments. The citizen-soldiers have an additional burden of worrying about their stateside careers and their finances could be greatly impacted. Just because the suicide didn't happen in Afghanistan or Iraq doesn't mean the deployments did not cause the stress and depression leading up to the act. Most likely these wars are contributing to the higher suicide rates.

  Cindy Posted August 17, 2007 9:52 AM
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  "Occupational issues" A gem of a way to say they are stuck in a meaningless war they can't win, with continuous extensions of their time in service. The health system for the military is a farce (Walter Reed for example), the military refuses to consider people with traumatic mental disorders (from the war) to be disabled, and the funding for college (GI bill)no longer covers the cost of tuition.

  Even if Congress were to double the Army's recruitment budget, they would have problems.

  Charleen Posted August 17, 2007 9:03 AM
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  Why do this surprise anyone? Who was the brilliant person who said that if we didn't learn from history we are doomed to relive it, or something to that effect. Does Vietnam come to mind? The Army has committed these shortcomings when my father served in WWII and my grandfather in WWI. Why do those who volunteer expect any better. I empathize with those that serve, but I ask them, did you really expect the Army to be different?

  Richard Black Posted August 17, 2007 8:44 AM
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  At times in the military, events that are happening at home, you feel you cannot control, causes one to become depressed and suicidal, some troops that are over seas too long, develop relationships, and a second family is preferred over the one in the states, when forced to return, suicides happen, often combat missions, is a suicidal event, a few when they learn they have a fatal disease, or formal charges placed against them, they prefer to die in combat. these were some of the reasons of death when the MP's brought a body to the ER/hospital

  alvan St Jacques Posted August 16, 2007 7:53 PM
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  It's a shame that 99 U.S. soldiers committed suicide in 2006. We all extend our condolences to their families and friends. Assuming that there are about 500,000 troops in the U.S. Army, this amounts to approximately 1 suicide for every 5,000 troops. Although there is no doubt that the war is a factor, I wonder what the comparable rate is for other groups, especially those with access to weapons, such as police officers, and the U.S. population in general?

  Hmmm Posted August 16, 2007 2:57 PM
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  The men and women in the military are exceptionally strong individuals. The defense of the USA is in super hands. The interesting fact here is that 71% of suicides were among men and women not serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, yet the author tries hard to relate the 2006 rate to the 2 wars.

  Michael Posted August 16, 2007 2:30 PM