I’ve written several times about the very high number of suicides committed by active duty Army personnel, and in August of 2012, I talked about a record setting month for those suicides.
A story today in USA TODAY exposes the high incidence of suicide for another group of military personnel, young Army veterans. According to data released by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs after a USA TODAY records request, young veterans just out of the military are committing suicide at three times the rate of active duty soldiers. Government officials attributed these suicides to “personal issues driving self destructive tendencies.” That is nothing but political speak meant to cloud the real reasons that are evident.
The number of suicides in the Army, more so than the other branches, has dramatically increased during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but considering the brutality inflicted against innocents by soldiers taking orders, should this be surprising?
“Veterans ages 18-24 enrolled in the VA’s health program killed themselves at a rate of 46 per 100,000 in 2009 and nearly 80 per 100,000 in 2011, the latest year of data available, according to the figures.”
That number is about 4 times the average rate of suicide in the general population, and does not include this past year. It is most likely 5 times or greater now. Most of these younger veterans were not being treated for any mental issues, but were being treated for other conventional medical problems. So why the dramatic increase in suicide?
This problem continues to worsen every single year. Given the multiple deployments, the stress that causes for families, the brutality of war, the physical wounds and loss of limbs, and the heinous and unholy memories lingering in the minds of any soldiers with a conscience, is it any wonder that they are taking their own lives in greater numbers?
This problem also escalated during the Vietnam War where up to 6,000,000 mostly innocent Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians died due to the evil U.S. war in that region. Orders then were to “kill anything that moves,” so what horror did that leave in the minds of those so-called warriors?
It is time to force this government and its murderous military to end all wars and all occupations. It is time to bring all soldiers back to the U.S. and close all military bases on foreign soil. Not only will this end the rampant growth of suicide among those willing to take orders to kill on demand here in the U.S., but it will save the countries and lives of all those overseas being aggressively targeted for death by American forces, and stop the most prolific terrorist state of all time from continuing its violent assault on mankind!