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18 Veterans commit suicide daily USA

Kathy

Well-known member
I heard about this stat some time ago, and finally found an article on the subject. This is so very sad, did you know about it? for the full article go to the link at the end.

Hidden toll of US wars: 18 veterans commit suicide daily
By Bill Van Auken
28 April 2010

An average of 18 US military veterans are taking their lives every day as the Obama administration and the Pentagon grow increasingly defensive about the epidemic of suicides driven by Washington’s wars of aggression.

The stunning figure was reported last week by the Army Times, citing officials in the US Veterans Affairs Department.

The department estimates that there are 950 suicide attempts every month by veterans who are receiving treatment from the department. Of these, 7 percent succeed in taking their own lives, while 11 percent try to kill themselves again within nine months.

The greatest growth in suicides has taken place among veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who accounted for 1,868 suicide attempts in fiscal 2009, which ended on September 30. Of these, nearly 100 succeeded in killing themselves.

The connection between the “surge” in military suicides and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is undeniable. The suicide rate within the military doubled between 2001 and 2006, even as it remained flat among the comparable (adjusted for age and gender) civilian population. And the numbers continue to rise steadily. In 2009, 160 active-duty military personnel killed themselves, compared to 140 in 2008 and 77 in 2003.

Many have blamed the increasing number of suicides on the .........

http://wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/mili-a28.shtml
 

Cowpuncher

Well-known member
This is indeed sad, if it is true. If 100 veterans died at their own hand in fiscal 2009, it doesn't relate to 18 per day.

18 per day would be some 6570 yearly.
 

Triangle Bar

Well-known member
Like Cowpuncher I'm not sure what to make of these statistics. They must be using the entire U.S. population of veterans regardless of age or deployment history. In the 07' census there were 23.7 million veterans living in the USA.

Read this story in the Army Times. http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/02/military_suicides_020509w/

Note that 1/3 of the recorded suicides were from those whom were never deployed. This is a difficult subject and all these deaths are a sad loss, but I question the agenda of your source, the World Socialist Web Site.
 
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