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 Suicides Double Among National Guard, ReservesPosted on Jan 19, 2011
The Army’s investment in suicide prevention appears to be paying off, with the first drop among active duty soldiers in five years. However the number of National Guardsmen and reservists who killed themselves—half of whom never saw combat—nearly doubled in the last year.
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By berniem, January 21, 2011 at 2:13 pm Link to this comment
I really don’t think that anything done by our glorious christian military has affected the suicide rate; rather I believe that the vast majority of those prone to do so already have! FREE BRADLEY MANNING!!!!
Report thisBy Rodney, January 21, 2011 at 12:34 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Just the thought of going to war is enough to want to
Report thiskill yourself.
By Mike3, January 21, 2011 at 12:13 pm Link to this comment
Where is Rumsfeld when you need him?
Report thisBy freikish, January 21, 2011 at 11:28 am Link to this comment
Seriously? Can I answer their question? Hopelessness increases thoughts of suicide! And guess what encourages hopelessness? Poverty! And guess what happens when reservists get called up? They tend to lose their jobs. While it’s not _supposed_ to happen, if they actually have a good job, chances are their employer has to find someone to do that job while they’re out. So they come back to their employer and find that someone else is capable of replacing them, and given the time away, is probably doing a better job than they are capable of doing upon return.
I’ll leave filling in the rest of the story as an exersize for the reader…
Report thisBy PatrickHenry, January 20, 2011 at 9:44 pm Link to this comment
War is a terrible thing and something to be avoided.
Seeing body parts of friends and comrades who were there a minute ago is something you never forget.
The people who create and maintain the wars have never been on the front lines of one.
Report thisBy Pragmatic Realist, January 19, 2011 at 11:21 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I think that a certain number of people join the Guard and reserves out of economic desperation in the first place. The threat of upcoming deployments may be a factor, as may be the death or injury of friends who have already been deployed.
The general wants one thing to be the root of this, but there are probably many.
Report thisBy gerard, January 19, 2011 at 8:28 pm Link to this comment
“When we put more time between deployments, that will be a huge factor in helping with this problem,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s vice chief of staff.
Report thisThen how about no deployments at all? Seems like a no-brainer to me. Make peace, not war.