Last month, suicide took the lives of more American soldiers than Al Qaeda and the Iraqi insurgency combined.
According to preliminary numbers, as many as 24 soldiers killed themselves in January. That's almost five times as many suicides as the same month last year. News of this shocking spike in suicides comes as no surprise to anyone who has been following this issue. 2008 marked the highest rate of military suicide in decades, and suicide rates have been rising every year since the start of the Iraq war.
It's clear that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking a tremendous toll on our troops, our veterans and their families. And suicide isn't the only challenge we're facing. Seven years of war have taken their toll on our military families, especially military marriages. Divorce rates among female servicemembers are especially alarming. Unemployment rates are up in general, but new veterans are being hit especially hard. Among Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans of the active-duty military, the unemployment rate was over eight percent in 2007, about 2 percent higher than their civilian peers. And already, at least 2,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have shown up in one of our nation's homeless shelters.
It is time for bold and immediate action.
That's why I'm leading a delegation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from across the country to Washington, DC this week to educate our nation's leaders on the most pressing issues facing today's troops and veterans. We hit the ground running with a congressional briefing in the Capitol, and we'll be meeting with over 100 legislators' offices throughout the week.
Each day, we'll be reporting live from DC, so follow us at www.StormtheHill.org.
We'll be hitting all the top points in our Legislative Agenda, including better screening for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, a stronger veterans' component in the stimulus package, and correct implementation of the historic new GI Bill. And we're also making sure that the stimulus package includes a robust veterans component. But the top issue we're tackling is the need for advance funding for veterans' hospitals.
What does advance funding mean? Year after year, the VA budget is passed late, forcing the largest health care provider in the nation to ration care. Hospitals cannot plan for needed repairs, or be sure when they'll have the funding to hire new employees. It's a real problem for veterans across the country of all generations, who have to rely on aging and understaffed hospitals. One veteran on my team today told a staffer that she has to wait an hour at her local VA just to park her car. Without advance funding, this is what can happen. It is like trying to plan for your family's budget without knowing how much your next paycheck will be for. Funding the VA health care budget one year in advance would put an end to the broken VA funding system, and it wouldn't cost a dime. If advanced funding is good enough for Big Bird and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, it should be good enough for veterans.
Sounds like a no brainer, right? I'd agree with you anywhere but on Capitol Hill, where common sense solutions go to die. But I'm optimistic. We've got the support of all the major veterans' service organizations, and a lot of support in Congress. We're going to make sure this easy, crucial fix moves this year.
We're bringing the largest IAVA delegation to Capitol Hill in our organization's history, and the week promises to be exciting. Don't miss out on the action. Our delegation is counting on your support.
Crossposted at IAVA.org.
Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff
The Democratic Daily » Grassrooters Storm The Hill
and the deserts of Iraq.
Let’s welcome them with open arms,
Help them get their lives back.
Some would return, some would be lost
Heroes just the same.
We must always remember the cost
And never forget their names.
They're gone, but not forgotten
They live inside their loved ones who are still alive.
They're gone, but not forgotten
As long as we're alive their dreams will never die,
Though they're gone.
Keep up the great work Paul.
It is appreciated by those of us who have lost the unsung heros fighting the wars of our country.
Phil T.
I remember similar headlines, and in fact a Dan Rather CBS News "documentary" relating to Vietnam veterans' suicide rates back in the 1980s. But contrary to "common knowledge" and popular public opinion, as it turned out the suicide rate among authentic Vietnam veterans was actually statistically LOWER then the rate among their peers in the U.S. population who never served in the military.
I AM a Vietnam veteran, U.S. Army II Field Force Vietnam Combat Command 1969-1970, and always questioned the purported suicide rate, among other long-since disproved myths such as PTSD rates, Agent "Orange", drug abuse, etc., effecting those 2.1 million of us who served in-country during that war.
In the 1998 book STOLEN VALOR, authors B.G. Burkett & Glenna Whitley exposed a plethora of commonly accepted "facts" about Vietnam veterans and their plight as pure nonsense. The lessons learned from the investigators who wrote that book could, and should be applied to this generation's soldiers returning from the middle-east.
Any unexplained mortality among troops who have survived combat tours, only to die at their own hand upon their return home needs to be investigated. But with all the other factors that could cause one to see suicide as their last resort, I would be very wary of jumping to any conclusions until all relevant facts are in.
I served in USN aviation during 'Nam. My best friend was not so lucky.
http://www.flashbackhome.com/stories/judy.html
Let it be known....your opinion is but your opinion.
There are tens of thousands of veterans who see it differently.
It's just that, with the bill already going into House/Senate reconciliation phase, it's hard to try to get something in there...
However, I do hope you can instill some senses to them, and get veterans the relief they need and deserve.
Recruits are economic conscripts from the lowest level of U.S. society. No one cared about them before, so why would anyone expect that to change after some military service.
The "real" failure is allowing the continuation of the war machine.
Since the generals have proven themselves unequal to obeying the laws that require that they disobey illegal orders from a superior officer, and unwilling to or unable to use their united efforts to declare Commander-in-Cheep Bush incompetent as a military leader - the only other group that the government will listen to, short of the kinds of marches seen in the 60's and 70's, is active duty military and vets.
Go for it guys and sit on Congress' and the WH's door steps until their eyes are opened and their ears unstopped. Whatever we think we are doing over there is not worth the life of even one soldier, the crippling of even one. The death toll is over 5000, and injured and crippled over 100,000.
It is literally insane to continue what we are doing.
ever hear chenye or bush asked about this in 8 years????????