Thread: U.S. Military - heartbreaking losses

I just finished an afternoon cigar out in the garage listening to NPR and BBC world news when a July statistic was released from the Defense Department. 26 suicides in July for active duty Army personnel. 8 Marine suicides for July. 6 Air Force suicides for July and 4 Navy suicides for July. The Defense Department revealed that there had been 154 suicides in the first 155 day of this year through June 3rd.

This news breaks my heart and I am totally clueless as to what can be done to try and help. I have always wondered during the last 10 years or so how our combat troops can possibly make it mentally through repeated + combat tours of duty. I know that our Special Ops Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen operate with a strength of psyche and resolve and love of Country to serve endlessly and God Bless everyone of them who are in terrible places accomplishing tasks that have to be completed while I am asleep or enjoying an afternoon cigar. I am thinking more about the Citizen soldier who enlists for a time certain and then faces the recurring combat tours.

A single 13 month tour in south east asia back in the 1960's has been a lasting part of my private presence and thoughts everyday since without fail.
Sorry for the downer, I just needed to get this off of my chest.

i was watching a show about fort Carson in Colorado springs and the show was about About soldiers with PTSD and they say that some of the service man can't handle the effects of what war does to them. I was In the guard and there were guys with PTSD and you can tell and you also know who they are if they didn't take there meds and man it's like a pregnant hormonal chick with a mood swing after another. And there are some guys who go into a deep depression when coming back home and they cant handle the environment and the government doesn't care. Your just a able body to them that can point and shoot which is sad but it's the truth but they. Should to come up with better program to help soldiers with PTSD instead of shoving pills down there throat and saying next... That's my 2 cents

I have no idea what war is. All I can do is imagine just how tought and stressing it can be. And even so, I'd miss the mark by a mile...
I reckon that the suicides in the armed forces have something to do with not being able to cope with the intense stress and the disapointment of war. There is no glamour and it certainly isn't cool — despite all the imagery that says otherwise. Perhaps it's hard to cope that war isn't what playstation games tell it is. But one thing is certain: we're not talking about the one-off suicide of the boy that couldn't take it. It's a troubling phenomenon that only a council of active duty veterans and psychiatrists can scratch fathom... I am none of the stated.
This seems to trouble you — therefore, I am troubled with you...
Enjoy your cigars and I'll do the same with my pipe.

I heard these stats today also;
My little brother, 10 years younger, is the Sergeant Major of 3/2. He just finished his "6th" tour; five in Iraq, his 6th in Afghanistan. I am not counting his time in country, Iraq, the first time around with Bush 1. His deployments of readiness to foreign countries, prior to Gulf War 1; are too numerous to remember.
Our father(25 years in the Corps) was on the first troop ship to land on Okinawa-- 1 tour , Korea----1 tour, re-activated for Vietnam doing 5 years state side running a chow hall.

Me, 4 years of peace time service.

Something just does not seem fair with our youth of today. We bitch about their lack of discipline sometimes, but we have demanded more from them than any other generation. Maybe when we make them a priority, give them their earned due, the suicide rates may go down.

Politicians and their promises all too often treat the military as expendable. Wave the flag, pat them on the back, smile, and load them up to send them over then let them find their own way back to life when the smoke clears.

Yes, I think it's a criminal failure of our government to not support returning troops as much as necessary to return to the lives they had before deploying. We ask them for a discrete amount of service, not for a lifetime of nightmare.

I haven't served, don't have PTSD, but I did survive a couple of life-threatening depressions so I have experienced dangerous despair. If that despair had resulted from service rendered to my country, I would also have had to deal with whole volumes of bitterness and betrayal.

As a civilian, I've done what little I can, like helping teach fly-rod building to vets in the Healing Waters program. From what I've heard, though, those of us who haven't been there don't carry much weight with the guys who have, and are suffering for it. And I understand that; none of the depressive self-help books did squat for me because the authors hadn't been there. What gave me traction was William Styron's Darkness Visible, a Memoir of Madness. He'd been there & done that and so I trusted him.

If anybody can recommend any good titles by returning soldiers I'd appreciate it. I think as a voter and taxpayer, in whose name they were sent to fight, I owe it to the vets to learn--from them--their stories.

As voters, we can all call our representatives, from the county level up, and encourage them to budget and plan for proper support for our returning troops. A lot of mental-health spending happens at the county level. If we lean on the politicians that'll give them the mandate to lean on the military to clean up its act as well.

And remember this all costs money, and so we'll have to pay our taxes and not quibble for every possible deduction.

Best wishes to all, and thank you who served for your service. I think of you guys the most when I send in my own tax forms.

What can you do??? you can cast your vote to get the currant war mongers out of office.
Tahts all you can do.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

What can you do??? you can cast your vote to get the currant war mongers out of office.
Tahts all you can do.

I thought we did that the last election?

I seem to recall reading that the seemingly non ending number of tours required of current military personnel over the past decade has created more stress than WWII combat vets had to take. Add to that the lack of care when returning and you have a recipe for those kinds of stats. Our military personnel have suffered in similar fashion too. Not a proud moment for any of us.

Bob

Originally Posted by jaswarb

Politicians and their promises all too often treat the military as expendable. Wave the flag, pat them on the back, smile, and load them up to send them over then let them find their own way back to life when the smoke clears.

Once the government has wiped its arse with you, you have no further value and no further need for them to make an investment. That would be wasteful and bad management.