Not long ago I was doing some work at an elderly, but very sharp minded and healthy , gentleman's home. We where chit chatting back and forth when our discussion rolled over to the war that our young men and ladies have been fighting for the last ten years plus. My client was a Vietnam Vet who served more than his share,1965-1975. That discussion lead into the super high rate of our young men's and ladies suicide rate. We started talking about the mind set that an ordinary sane person has to put themselves into for combat operations to be able to successfully complete those duties, not so much career military personnel but the average kid that was drafted in his day and the patriotic volunteers of today. He stated that his theory on the high rate of suicides is that these young soldiers are putting themselves into "the mindset of combat" i.e. detaching themselves from human emotions of caring for all human life , which all must do to be able to perform on the battlefield successfully, but once the fire fight is over and they return to base camp that they are not able or allowed to stay detached from their normal emotions of civility and love of all human life. He stated, and I have heard this from more than one "old Vet", that the first one is the hardest one(first kill), but you detach yourself from the feelings after this and the rest are not easy but not as troubling as the first one..."the mindset". He was able to stay in this mindset for the next 3 years of combat duty and some what the next 7 years of supply duty while stationed in country until the pull out and return home. Our soldiers today are going in and out, back and forth from detachment to having "normal" emotions....the cause? The availability of frequent contact with loved ones back home, Skype, cam to cam, video conference , speaking, hearing and seeing their wives, children , family and friends via the internet. In his day the letter from home was much anticipated and a joy to receive but he told me that just having read a letter from his wife and to see a picture of her and his young son would cause a flood of emotion and tears. The "old Vet" said he could not imagine being able to have contact as frequently and personally as the internet now offers and our soldiers have. He said " hell if I pulled myself in and out of the mindset on a weekly or monthly bases, that would drive me to suicide".
The Army lost the most active-duty members last year to suicide: 182. Inside that branch, as two wars raged then waned, the annual suicide pace climbed. During 2001, nine out of every 100,000 active-duty soldiers killed themselves, while, during 2011, the suicide rate was nearly 23 per 100,000, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Compare that sobering trend to conflicts and peace times past. During the final three years of World War II, the Army’s annual suicide rate didn’t budge above 10 soldiers per 100,000, and during the Korean War in the early 1950s, that annual pace remained at about 11 soldiers per 100,000, according to a study published in 1985 by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Between 1975 and 1986, the Army’s annual suicide rate averaged 13 deaths per 100,000 soldiers, falling to as low as 10 in the early ‘80s, according to series of papers published in the journal Military Medicine. The Army’s suicide rate in 2001 was less than half that for all American males (18.2 per 100,000). Since then, the pace of self harm among active Army troops has more than doubled — and that trend is not ebbing: In January, the Army classified another 33 deaths as "potential suicides" among active-duty, National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, according to the Department of Defense.
But that is just the theory of an "old Vet". GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS, VETS AND AMERICA!
The Army lost the most active-duty members last year to suicide: 182. Inside that branch, as two wars raged then waned, the annual suicide pace climbed. During 2001, nine out of every 100,000 active-duty soldiers killed themselves, while, during 2011, the suicide rate was nearly 23 per 100,000, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Compare that sobering trend to conflicts and peace times past. During the final three years of World War II, the Army’s annual suicide rate didn’t budge above 10 soldiers per 100,000, and during the Korean War in the early 1950s, that annual pace remained at about 11 soldiers per 100,000, according to a study published in 1985 by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Between 1975 and 1986, the Army’s annual suicide rate averaged 13 deaths per 100,000 soldiers, falling to as low as 10 in the early ‘80s, according to series of papers published in the journal Military Medicine. The Army’s suicide rate in 2001 was less than half that for all American males (18.2 per 100,000). Since then, the pace of self harm among active Army troops has more than doubled — and that trend is not ebbing: In January, the Army classified another 33 deaths as "potential suicides" among active-duty, National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, according to the Department of Defense.
But that is just the theory of an "old Vet". GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS, VETS AND AMERICA!
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