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04.23.10 - 8:44 PM
Veteran Suicides Soar
The numbers are shocking: Roughly 30 veterans a day try to commit suicide, new data shows, and 18 succeed. Of those, about five receive medical care from the VA. The suicide rate of veterans soared 26 percent from 2005 to 2007. To date, more than 600,000 troops have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury or both. Given those figures, new legislation to help veterans - from stipends for caregivers of the seriously injured to more suicide prevention funds - seems obscenely inadequate.
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97 Comments so far
Show AllMaybe they should have refused those unlawful orders.
Not the way the Army works! becides most ar too young to know better. All they want is enough brains not to shoot your teammates, and follow orders as to which way to shoot.
Becides the Beloved Leader wants us over there killing. Wonder why? to my knowledge no one over there threatened me. I'm pretty sure no one in Iraq ever heard on me.
So I'm sure their not there to defend me.
That's what happens when you deploy the same people over and over for what will turn out to be a decade(s?)-long war.
If only the people in power gave a damn about them.
With real unemployment rates exceeding 20% the US has a defacto draft..the military is the ONLY employment opportunity for many of these people and when they realize there is no hope they snuff themselves.
Only because of the self-imposed limits on imagination and government spending. A huge new WPA could quickly employ all those people and convert our country to clean, renewable energy, among other improvements.
Too bad Obama turned out to be another Hoover rather than another Roosevelt.
I'm so with you on this point zman. your ideas are just starters. we need to decentralize our energy our agriculture to small family farms and a new World wide CCC that will clean and restore our oceans, a new Dept of Modern Hi Speed Rail that will overhaul our dilapidated trains in NYCity with hi speed American made subways. We need to build bullet trains and mag lev trains all over with American labor and American innovation. Why are we propping up the banks!! FXCk them. Bypass those worms and funnel our money to jobs. we should be propping up US with jobs and manufacturing in concert with private business and family farmers.And that is for starters too. Much much more can be accomplished if we overthrow the banks and the military hardware merchants of death.
Forgive me for I forgot to mention most importantly that our new WPA should include care for those suffering the ravages of Americas dark underbelly. Our soldiers come first! and anyone who has fought and risked EVERYTHING and who has seen and experienced the most horrible deserves 1st class care FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES!
. Banks-dismantle them. build care centers for soldiers with top staff and for Gods sake-Bring em home.
We need enthusiasm and ideas like this in our government, badly.
Bingo! A holistic solution to 2 horrors.
Amen!!!!
Our Warlords-In-Chief promised a "surge" - this must be it.
These Army Times figures are wacked. There seem to be a few main parameters which are not always listed: in treatment and not in treatment, Iraq/Afghanistan or other wars. I really need to see something which shows the real data. This is a mess I would turn back to the student to clarify.
=== start quote ===
"an average of 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department.
Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those who don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months."
=== end quote ===
Do the calculation on these numbers and get this for vets in some type of VA treatment:
950 * 0.07 = 66.5 deaths per month
66.5 / 30.5 = 2.18 deaths per day
=== start quote ===
"The numbers, which come at a time when VA is strengthening its suicide prevention programs, show about 18 veteran suicides a day, about five by veterans who are receiving VA care."
=== end quote ===
2.18 is not 5 - for those in VA treatment
5 deaths per day would be about 152 deaths per month
152 deaths out of 950 per month would be 16% (not 7%)
18 deaths a day is about 549 deaths per month
=== start quote ===
"Suicide attempts by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans remains a key area of concern. In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, there were 1,621 suicide attempts by men and 247 by women who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, with 94 men and four women dying."
=== end quote ===
The numbers again:
If 98 died in fiscal 2009 then that means that 98/365.25 = 0.268 deaths per day or one death per every 3.73 days.
Then compare this stated 2009 fiscal rate with the earlier stated rates.
18 a day is 18/.268 = 67 times the 2009 rate
5 a day is 5/.268 = 18.66 times the 2009 rate
even 2.18 is 8.13 times the 2009 rate
SO - I have no idea which figures mean what and therefore I have no way of evaluating these figures.
'Ghazi April 23rd, 2010 11:16 pm
Maybe they should have refused those unlawful orders.'
And get shot in 'friendly fire'?
At least their conscious would be clear.
Yeah,
It didn't work out too well for Pat Tillman. The NFL star said he was going to come home and blow the lid off this phony war, and suddenly he got a bad case of US Army lead poisoning followed by an autopsy coverup. According to the book "Where Men Find Glory" the author claims the friendly-fire percentage had reached 40% of war casualties.
Just like in Vietnam, it appears to me we are fighting ourselves again. All for the profits of Kellogg Brown and Root, the same Bush/Haliburton bank that looted the taxpayers with an endless war in Vietnam.
But we never learn. We're just a bunch of dumb naked apes staring at the boob tube.
TJ
"Your so-called civilian leadership sees you as an expendable commodity. They don't care about your nightmares, about the DU that you are breathing, about the lonliness, the doubts, the pain, or about how you humanity is stripped away a piece at a time. They will cut your benefits, deny your illnesses, and hide your wounded and dead from the public. They already are.
They don't care. So you have to. And to preserve your own humanity, you must recognize the humanity of the people whose nation you now occupy and know that both you and they are victims of the filthy rich bastards who are calling the shots."
They are your enemies--The Suits--and they are the enemies of peace, and the enemies of your families,..."
'HOLD ON TO YOUR HUMANITY'.... by Counterpunch... there is much to be learned from this ex Vietnam vet in his letter to his son who was in Iraq.
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1115-06.htm
The treatment you describe is par for the course for our "heroes", whether they are troops, who do no good to themselves or others, or miners and WTC rescuers who now must fight tooth and nail for medical treatment. We are each responsible for our own humanity and should not be duped by those who would use us and then ignore us.
Thanks for the link.
Joe
Looks like all of those yellow magnetic "support our troops" ribbons are faulty...
What they meant, was "Support the War".
If we are to use these figures about such a serious matter, we need some assurance that the figure are close to reality, some citations. As dreamdancer says, things do not add up. 18 suicides per day would mean 6500 per year. 950 attempts per month, of which 7% are immediately successful and 11% are ultimately "successful" would add up to about 2 per day or 730 per year.
But no doubt there is widespread despair in returning vets, despair about what they have done and about what they will be doing. Outright suicide indicates a much larger problem of anger, depression, injury, brain damage and PTSD. Emotional illness is an indication that many veterans had a soul when they went over there and were shaken by the cruelty and futility of what they saw.
Of course we should stop sacrificing our young to these invasions based on lies and for the benefit of soulless oil companies, Halliburton, war profiteers. We must create life pathways (specifically jobs) for all people, including veterans, so the future is worth living.
Joe
See www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/
military_veterans_suicide_042210w/
They have 'soiled' their souls while killing others, and no doubt feel they been had. They feel completely disillusioned (and betrayed) with what they were taught to believe, about what is right and wrong. Their whole world has been turned upside down. And they only have evil professionals to turn to in their despair, offering drugs and other non-solutions. Seek religion for solace? HA! It is part and parcel of the same 'evil' program. No wonder so few find a way out of their despair.
I'm a Vietnam Veteran with a PTSD rating from the VA. If I want to see a mental health professional at the Tallahassee VA Clinic, I can get one appointment every couple of months. That is the same for returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The system is swamped. During the last appointment I had, the doctor told me he had 360 veterans he was trying to help. So how much one-on-one help do you think this doctor can give to any one veteran?
Every time you go to see him, he has to spend time reading your file, and try to remember who you are, and what you talked about six weeks or a couple of months ago.
With this system, there is little chance of building any sort of trust between the Doctor and the veteran. Without trust, the veteran is never going to talk about what is really driving him nuts.
Personally, I think the system has been set up this way to get as many veterans as possible offing themselves. That saves the VA billions of dollars over a period of years. Here is a quick example of what I am talking about. Lets say you are a vet and are having a real hard period of time and start thinking of suicide as an out. In desperation you call the VA for help. You get a recorded message telling you a phone number you can call to get help. What if you don't have a pen or pencil? No real person answers the phone at the VA and it is like calling any corporation with a recorded voice telling you to push #1 for this and #2 for that and so on. Those kind of calls can drive even a person with no mental health problems to frustration.
No, I don't think the VA system gives a Rat's Ass about what happens to vets. Sorry, but that is the truth. And because they don't care, more and more veterans will use suicide as a way out of their pain and suffering.
Unfortunately, war is all about money. Veterans are only the line workers in the dirty business of war. Once they brake down, the ruling elite make a calculation that it cost less to just deny the veteran promised care. The prison system has become the best depository for the veterans of war. But, it should be that the VA system would be funded to fill the obligation and promise of the government to care for those who have done the battling for the nation.
The VA is a shame and lie, mostly. This system only works at all, because of the hard working and well meaning people in it. The VA is full of good people, just not enough of them.
You are verifying the message regarding the VA sent by the film "Born of the Fourth of July." I recall the Republicans cutting funding as they fulminated about supporting the troops as BushCo invaded Iraq. But I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised by the acts of a massively immoral government filled with criminals who have killed so many and want to kill more.
I enlisted in '68 and agree the VA is a fraud for the most part. Are you aware that they are giving wounded Vets today METHADONE for pain? Methadone is one of the most difficult drugs to "kick the habit" of, so i predice a sharp rise in herion usage by returning vets in the near future. They'll go to herion because then they get rid of the pain PLUS get a buzz, and herion is easier to kick. Addicting vets to drugs is one more way to bring about early deaths, if the suicide rate doesn't increase enough to 'cure the problem'.
And I post again that the way to stop this insanity is to do something about Public Law 107-40 instead of ignoring it and coming here to bitch and feel personally better.
The DAFT war, this insane military effort to prevent future terrorism forever and ever, amen, is destroying US military families.
It is destroying America. You are watching it happen.
You are watching it.
You are watching it and bitching.
Your bitching isn't helping.
If it did, I would support it.
But it doesn't. You are wasting America's valuable time.
Do something about Public Law 107-40 and maybe we can start taking care of jimmytwoshoes (above).
C'mon, folks. Stop bitching and start accomplishing.
Show America that this insanity is DAFT.
The Empire has no clothes.
Americans will turn away from naked aggression.
Every country deals with future terrorism but only America declared war.
Has anybody here read to the bottom of the Declaration of Independence?
we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
locust has made this pledge, and will continue to do so until we have won our independence -
For all of us, every last puny insignificant little nothing.
locust
literally one computer user stubbornly typing
Do something about Public Law 107-40.
Ft.Hood massacre
Mutiny for sure
initial reports
multiple shooters
different locations
blamed on lone muzzie
same post last week was deleted
by CD admin... :{
Could you provide any links with evidence of what you say? I've seen statements by the likes of Webster Tarpley, but he only makes assertions and speculations, so it only remains his opinion. It is curious, in any case, that most of the soldiers interviewed in the Ft. Hood incident said that at first they "thought it was a drill," which means that they must practice this sort of thing in the Army. Your conjecture that it was a mutiny by several people, and not a "false flag" operation, as Tarpley thinks (with Hasan being simply a patsy), actually seems a more likely scenario, and in that case one understands why they would want to keep it under wraps. A drill would provide a good context in which to pull off such a mutiny (and would be eerily similar to the "drills" in course during both the 9/11 attacks and the 7/7 London bombings).
In any case, I would be interested to know if there is any testimony to back up your claim.
No testimony as of yet.... do a keyword search and get back to me
The army of the unemployed created by unhinged capitalism stokes the army of Empire, so that capital can resume its constant growth and savage accumulation of wealth at the expense of Earth and most people on Earth (and the latter include the soldiers of Empire).
And when I say my fortune, I mean an insignificant amount that won't fill a 2-car garage.
Since this automatically disqualifies me from American acceptance due to a complete lack of greed, I hereby declare that I will earn a fortune, thus making myself marketable to Progressives (see, he's reeeeally American)
and then I'll give it away.
Now, if this insanity is still going on, I will have to spend it on yelling at people to do something about Public Law 107-40, assuming there still is a world next year. There may not be.
I would rather spend it on people such as jimmytwoshoes.
Progressives do not know how to be successful, because we have been given such sh---ty hands for so long that we have lost (and Democrats have folded) every important round for oh so many years. Now we have us and cd and the internet.
Show America that this is DAFT and we will end this insanity and I can use my fortunes on other people than those who still fear.
Excuse me, sir, I am successful, but the accumulation of wealth is not part of MY understanding of success.
Good answer.
This Veteran suicide problem is just another proof that WAR IS HELL!! All we can do is elect people that realize that fact and keep the warmongers out of our government. We have people now that are agitating to start something with Iran, and it will never end unless we have people in charge that realize we need to take care of our own country for a change. So what if some other country gets a nuke sometime, we have thousands of them, as does Russia, and Israel has plenty thanks to us. There is more to patriotism than fighting continually and forcing our way on everyone else.
My young nephew was one of those who succumbed to a final solution to rid himself of the terrible demons that had overtaken his mind after he came home - death by suicide.
BRING ALL OUR TROOPS HOME!!!!!
FrankS
I am so sorry for your needless loss. Damn those that sent him but stayed home themselves.
BRING ALL OUR TROOPS HOME!!!!!
Amen!
Sincere thanks, Veritas!
BRING ALL OF OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!!!!
I agree. Bring them all home and close bases in 170+ foreign countries so we can save money too.
18 suicides a day means over 6500 suicides a year. It is very difficult for me to believe that these numbers are correct. It seems to me that even our pro-war media would be headlining such high numbers.
Have these numbers been published by any authoritative source, such as the VA? Although I know administrators lie, I think it would be impossible to keep such a secret.
If the numbers are correct, it seems to me that would be a scandal that would be impossible to keep secret and it would be getting banner headlines.
Please forgive the repetition.
Jim Shea
Ray Berthiaume
Very good point, Jim. We progressives must be extremely careful that we report actual FACTS. The truth shall set us free.
Your right, the numbers don't add up. The link in the above post goes to an Army Times article, but those figures quoted don't equal 6500.
In the linked Army Times article, it says: "there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each month .... Seven percent of the attempts are successful,"
This data gives us 66.5 deaths per month, 798 annually. And this data is only for Vets, not those still Active.
It then says: "The numbers ... show about 18 veteran suicides a day," which is totally at odds with the first statement. Thus, NONE of the numbers cited are credible as they are contradictory. Really, Really, Really poor editing has produced a useless article when it comes to what ought to be the easiest facts to print, which then makes the wise reader question the veracity of the entire article, which is a real shame for such an important topic.
Good...better they kill themselves than more innocent women and children.
You don't speak for me.
I have no idea what "species" you are, but HUMAN you ain't.
Good point.