:(

Thanks for the awareness. I will be sure to watch it. Thanks.

yeah... :'(

just read the article & feel that it is a sad shame that they do not keep a count on how many suicides there are among the people who have served in Iraq.

Thanks guypaul, Im a veteran and use the VA for medical care and one of my providers told me about an initiative the VA recently started to address this issue. They have set up a hotline, its not available in every area yet, but most can access it calling 1-800-SUICIDE and pressing 1. It will connect you with a telephone counselor who will ask if youd like to be contacted by the Suicide Prevention Coordinator in your area. Its not mandatory but they prefer if you allow them to call you, you have to provide your name, social security number and of course your phone number which they have anyway even if you use caller id blocking.
Its been an open secret for decades, I was in the military from 74-77 and know of several young men, they were all males as were the majority of military personnel at that time, who suicided. I was always shocked, even when it was someone I had never met, I felt as if a distant family member had died. I cant explain the feeling adequately, I guess its something one must experience first hand but even now when I meet other veterans I feel a kinship.
I try very hard not to feel resentful that suddenly after 9/11 the American people seem to have suddenly realized that the military is there to protect us and can only do what the President and Legislature dictate. I guess some other Viet Era vets will understand, particularly those who were there, it is an old but still sore point for me at least. But I guess better late than never, and before anyone jumps me please understand my resentment is not in any way toward those who have served since Viet Nam or are serving now but toward the public who used to call us names and throw rotten food at us. I would often think that it was to protect that very right that I put on my uniform and although I did not think we had any business in Viet Nam I knew that without a strong militia our freedom would soon disappear.
Okay, getting off my soapbox now, thanks for listening.

I guess it just goes to show even soldiars aren't immune to depression. And I can see how with them,wittnessig war first hand, that it could cantribute to the depression. And most of all.....another soldiar stll has to come home and have to face there demons. Deppresion like it was nothing before..

You have every right to be on that soapbox Orion. Viet nam vets were treated badly. No ceramonies or welcome homes for yall. At least the American people are trying to treat the soilders with respect his time. That is another battle yall fought for us.

they are pretty much told to shake it off. I know some that were there in the beginning of Iraq, went away happy young men, (and women) and come home with serious depression, not to mention PTSD, and other mental illness that get triggered during war.

LOL! Mr.fucking bubble! OHHHH u guyz crack me up!

Thanks for your service, orion.
I wish our government could be trusted to only start wars when there was no other recourse. Absolutely no other recourse.

And I sure hope some allowances are made for the soldiers who come back home and can't fit in to civilian life anymore. I hope they won't just be kicked to the back of the closet and forgotten.

I don't think it's patriotic to perpetuate a war. Especially a war you don't agree with. I believe it is my patriotic duty to hold my government accountable for its actions. I admire the soldiers who serve my country while at the same time, I despise the elected officials who put them in harm's way unnecessarily.

Here is a Web page with links to services available to Veterans. The site itself was started for the benefit of the vets of the war in Iraq, but the services listed here are not all exclusive.
http://www.iraqwarveterans.org/ptsd.htm

Thanks Zaza's, I hadn't thought of it as fighting another war but you're right, thanks for pointing it out. And thanks for letting me vent, even after all these years I still feel very strongly about it and am very thankful that troops from Desert Storm and more recent combat engagements are welcomed home as the heroes they are.

Suicide is getting our attention, but there is also much more suffering that leads up to it, that many other vets also carry every day of their lives.

My dad served in WW II and the Korean war, and he lost his best buddy and his mother also died while he was serving...although he never saw combat, he was certainly adversely affected the rest of his life.

I don't mean that to sound like I am minimizing suicide. My oldest son (who served in the Navy) did shoot himself too. Although it was not directly related to serving. But that depression gets handed down from generation to generation, also, unless it is stopped somehow.

Wow.
That's so sad.
I have heard that the care vets get is not the best. And it should be the very best.
My Grandpa had PTSD from WWI and passed on the abuse to his wife and kids. My Dad's folks divorced, but he was one of the Chosin Few in Korea and lost his brother and Dad while serving. He came back with PTSD and was terrifying to grow up with. I have PTSD because of my childhood and some other occurrences, but I've often thought my whole family's lives would have been different if my Grandpa had had adequate psychiatric care.

this is so sad, good post.

it's horrible, and there really is no excuse.