Officials: Army suicides at 3-decade high

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Kind of sobering.

Officials: Army suicides at 3-decade high

WASHINGTON – Suicides among Army troops soared again last year and are at a nearly three-decade high, Defense Department officials announced Thursday.

At least 128 soldiers killed themselves in 2008. But the final count is likely to be considerably higher because 15 more suspicious deaths are still being investigated and could also turn out to be self-inflicted, the Army said.

FULL STORY: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090129/ap_on_...e/army_suicides

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Unfortunately it doesn't surprise me at all. Mainly because our service men and women are in combat and their mental health is suffering. Hopefully the armed services oversight committees will be proactive instead of reactive to help the mental health issues of our soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors.

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I live a little over an hour south of Fort Hood, and worked EMS in an area the encompasses Fort Hood. Got to know a lot of soldiers that served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These 18 and 19 year old kids, just out of high school, go over there, and come back totally different. Although there are no visible wounds, I really think that PTSD is the signature disease of this war, and it seems that the medical community agrees. But, these tragedies shed light on this issue, and I hope the new adminsitration is more generous with their mental health care. I've seen guys go to the VA and try to get help but get turned away. Disgusting the way we treat our vetrans.

I've also been SHOCKED at how much crime there is within the military itself, both in combat, at bases, and in the cities surrounding comitted by soliders.