military.com : Older Vets Committing Suicide at Alarming Rate

Aug 31, 2014 | by Bryant Jordan

Veteran suicide numbers have gone up in recent years with much of the attention focused on veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan killing themselves. However, almost seven out of 10 veterans who have committed suicide were over the age of 50, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs study.

Nobody knows anything about [why], but we suspect a combination of factors," said Dr. Tom Berger, a Navy corpsman in Vietnam and today executive director of the Veterans Health Council at Vietnam Veterans of America. "Certainly we share some of the risk factors with the younger guys,"

military.com : Older Vets Committing Suicide at Alarming Rate

i suspect some kind of drug used by the vets caused deep depression to these vets..

a reply to: buntalanlucu

I think the article offers a very good explanation. It's the first thing I thought of before reading it too. Older combat vets never really got counseling or anything while the traumatic events happened, they simply had to repress it which can easily lead to depression later in life. Being older now and having their family structure weakened with grown children, divorces, and so on removes the supports the person had to simply get past the bad times. Throw all of that in with a healthy dose of the bitter reality of getting any sort of assistance in this country plus a very bleak financial future for their kids and it's very obvious to me that depression is playing a huge role.

The vets served the country, they fought for it to be great and they carry life long scars for that sacrifice. To see the state of the country now, and that it gets worse by the day... that has to weigh heavily on them.

a reply to: Aazadan

That's a major part of it, I'm sure.

Another part of it is no one really cares about you ... just because you're a vet. The truth of it might be found in that veterans of that age and older (I am one, mind you) don't make the most appealing companions. Another factor is how ready we are to die. I honestly don't care whether I go on living or not, but I don't have suicidal thoughts or tendencies either. I just haven't gotten there yet, I guess.

One thing I saw right away after retiring was that there was no way I was ever going to be a round peg in a round hole again. Kind of a bummer, but one has to live with the choices they make.

a reply to: Snarl

All we can do is keep the faith. I intend to keep on saying what I believe until I am stopped.
Also I DO live in Colorado so...

a reply to: buntalanlucu

i suspect some kind of drug used by the vets caused deep depression to these vets..

I suspect inadequate mental health and the horrors of war caused deep depression in the vets. Couple that with fighting in a war they most likely didn't agree with and being demonized as murderers back home, all this after being forced into service...

I feel immensely for these people. I can't imagine it.

The ones i know of had things like cancers from agent orange.

You can blame it on the FDA's and DEA's war on pain meds.

If you have ever had severe pain to the point you no longer can do any thing and the doctors say they can not give you anything for the pain you would know the problem

I know the problem because i am a Vietnam Vet and have been there.

I got lucky because i did my own research and found a non narcotic medication that just happened to work for the pain i had.

but, compared to vietnam era veterans , how many more suicide happened today ? and some of that vietnam war battles were more intense than any of the modern battles..

is it really the stress of combat that caused this ? along with the inability to adjust to civilian live ?

or maybe the real cause is deeper than that ? i am suprised some of the PTSD suffered also came from those who never saw combat.. how come ?

Civil War Veterans were revered if they were Union white, despised if they were Confederate white. If they were black they were despised on both sides as the Union used black soliders to raid the houses of the white southerns and pillage their wealth. After the war the southern whites and the blacks all over suffered; the blacks were targeted specifically in reconstruction via the rise of the KKK, the Black Codes, and of course Plessy V. Ferguson. Employment was difficult for blacks and via the aforementioned, they were relegated to free slave status, being stuck sharecropping since no other jobs were available. Those who went west were targeted of all color.

WW1 Veterans were revered if they were white, if they were black they were lynched in uniform and subjected to inhumane treatments for being "gun prepared" upon returning home. Targeted if you will by whites, especially in Southern States. Targeted for abuse and slave like work while in service; few got past the rank as NCO. Woodrow Wilson forced black soliders home first because the white women across the ocean were not prejudiced to them and treated them equal. Employment was void for black soliders when they returned, outside of sharecropping opportunities.

WW2 Veterans were revered if they were white more than the Tuskeegee Airmen or any other black brigade. When the blacks returned home, they were not treated any better than they were in WW1. They were still targeted even moreso by whites, especially in industrial locations because they had service pay and had to be hired as vets. They were still targeted for abuse while in service, but some brigades were able to prove bravery and command respect. Some were able to achieve higher rank for the first time in military service history for blacks. While the industrial boom (and the removal of most women from work) allowed blacks more employment opportunities, it was still relegated to first whites come and then them.

Korea Veterans were the first to be largely defeated and ignored by the government. Black or white, it didn't matter. Jobs, for those that were able, were plentiful. Cities were developing quicker, so there was more employment opportunities and enterprenuealship.

Vietnam Veterans were primarily Black this go round and cannon fodder for the US government to solicit themselves as Opium traders on the black market, since that is truly what that war was Clandestinely about. Note that while the units were primarily black, they still in most cases had a white commanding CO, still leading into a slavery type hierarchy. A lot of Veterans came back addicted to heroin and other narcotics; my father told me (he was in the Nam 66-72) that their commanding officers encouraged open drug usage to cope and ofter distributed various narcotics to the infantrymen before they went out on bivwack. This was also the first war where we have soliders raping and torturing the enemy and it getting out (the story that Casulaties of War was based on), the first war actively protested by the fighting drafted age group (the Student Protests), the first where the guerilla combat had an active effect on the psyche of the soliders (flashbacks and nightsweats as my father suffered). This is also the first war that soliders came back with illness (Agent Orange amongst others). When these souls returned home they were scorned by the media, by the protestors, and largely abandoned by their government even though the vast majority were drafted. Thankfully jobs and educational opportunities were plentiful, and if they weren't too much of a head case they could immediately get work.

Persian Gulf Veterans were largely #ted on. Yes, most volunteered as the draft was over. Yes it was a better ratio of black to white servicemen. Yes women were able to go in limited capacity. While they were able to get educational opportunities and work, the work this go round was UPS type employment as a package handler. I know a lot of Vets who say they came back with Persian Gulf Syndrome and were largely ignored. Upon returning few even cared about that war or that they went to it. The conditions there were a bit scarier than the jungle, I have one friend who still has trauma over Camel Spiders. This is the first generation of veterans to be openly discriminated against silently in the employment market.

Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans are completely marginalized, and #ted on. This is now an equal army comprised of all races, genders, and sexuality. These are the Reservists that got caught between a rock and a hard place from Bush policy. These are the ones that post 9/11 couldn't find work and joined as a last resort, and if they were able to get out before the "we got you until we through with you" clause, came out to NOTHING. They were discriminated against in employment and education, with a paranoia of "what if they go crazy" mentality being rampant. They have the hardest time fitting in to a society that completely turned on them for their service. This is the servicemen that thought their military job skills and training would get them better opportunities after leaving; this lot can't even get the fullest extent of the GI Bill like the Vietnam Vets and has to fight the Universities to accept it (and that is another discussion completely). Keep in mind this is the slim trim military now; private contractors are coming in and doing THEIR JOBS. This military is being trained on SIMULATORS and VIDEO GAMES; the one that allows gang bangers and illegal immigrants to get citizenship. This is also the military that knew damn well that they were fighting for oil and not freedom.

If we take a look at this brief synopsis of pattern, you will see this government started testing behavior on what they considered the lowest common denominator of society, and then gradually and incrementally spread it on to the majority. There is no wonder why suicide is up, for all we know they are filling their heads with crap to make them do it. By the time we get down to the last generation, the military is pretty much the expendables, with private contractors with their own mercs having more superiority and clearance than they do. They bought into the propaganda commercials and once signing over saw they had become apart of a dead end situation.

With the way AMERICA is acting....we feel betrayed.
WE hunted socialist DICTATORS all over the world then they go and ELECT one,Valerie say's we could be terrorists so they can keep after those GUNS and put us on WATCH lists,.PROGS on this forum are telling us ALL about who we are and what we know ,incorrectly ,insultingly and our POTUS is a sympathizer.
The MILLENNIALs are mostly coming off like NEOHIPPIES with almost ZERO factual knowledge about what they don't like.


on face book we are called LAZY and PARASITES the old chestnut MURDERERS like the idiots haven't lived in EARTH in the 20th CENTURY.

And what else do you hear how WE need to go stop the beheadings I even had an IDIOT say we as 2nd AMENDMENT supporters are FAILURES for not reacting to Furguson,like a criminal bites it we should care.

originally posted by: ArchPlayer
Civil War Veterans were revered if they were Union white

WW1 Veterans were revered if they were white

WW2 Veterans were revered if they were white more than the Tuskeegee Airmen or any other black brigade.

Korea Veterans were the first to be largely defeated and ignored by the government. Black or white, it didn't matter.

Vietnam Veterans were primarily Black this go round and cannon fodder for the US government to solicit themselves as Opium traders on the black market, since that is truly what that war was Clandestinely about.

Persian Gulf Veterans were largely #ted on. Yes, most volunteered as the draft was over. Yes it was a better ratio of black to white servicemen.

Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans are completely marginalized, and #ted on. This is now an equal army comprised of all races, genders, and sexuality. These are the Reservists that got caught between a rock and a hard place from Bush policy.

If we take a look at this brief synopsis of pattern, you will see this government started testing behavior on what they considered the lowest common denominator of society, and then gradually and incrementally spread it on to the majority. There is no wonder why suicide is up, for all we know they are filling their heads with crap to make them do it. By the time we get down to the last generation, the military is pretty much the expendables, with private contractors with their own mercs having more superiority and clearance than they do. They bought into the propaganda commercials and once signing over saw they had become apart of a dead end situation.

thats a nice perspective to ponder about..

i never thought america's apathy toward it's veteran also contributes to the suicidal tendencies of today's veterans..

maybe a bit 'post-power' syndrome ? where they get everything done for them in the military and when they got out they have to do everything themselves and other people dont salute or respect them anymore outside their uniform ?

originally posted by: buntalanlucu

originally posted by: ArchPlayer
Civil War Veterans were revered if they were Union white

WW1 Veterans were revered if they were white

WW2 Veterans were revered if they were white more than the Tuskeegee Airmen or any other black brigade.

Korea Veterans were the first to be largely defeated and ignored by the government. Black or white, it didn't matter.

Vietnam Veterans were primarily Black this go round and cannon fodder for the US government to solicit themselves as Opium traders on the black market, since that is truly what that war was Clandestinely about.

Persian Gulf Veterans were largely #ted on. Yes, most volunteered as the draft was over. Yes it was a better ratio of black to white servicemen.

Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans are completely marginalized, and #ted on. This is now an equal army comprised of all races, genders, and sexuality. These are the Reservists that got caught between a rock and a hard place from Bush policy.

If we take a look at this brief synopsis of pattern, you will see this government started testing behavior on what they considered the lowest common denominator of society, and then gradually and incrementally spread it on to the majority. There is no wonder why suicide is up, for all we know they are filling their heads with crap to make them do it. By the time we get down to the last generation, the military is pretty much the expendables, with private contractors with their own mercs having more superiority and clearance than they do. They bought into the propaganda commercials and once signing over saw they had become apart of a dead end situation.

thats a nice perspective to ponder about..

i never thought america's apathy toward it's veteran also contributes to the suicidal tendencies of today's veterans..

maybe a bit 'post-power' syndrome ? where they get everything done for them in the military and when they got out they have to do everything themselves and other people dont salute or respect them anymore outside their uniform ?

America has been mentally messing with its troops a long long time. They don't get everything done for them anymore like you think; they have half of that 450/mo for new recruits taken out for food and living expenses. Most are forced to pay for their bunk now in closed quarters after basic in barracks that are no longer operable. They have to pay for personal and mess hall expenses too, hence why they have to get on aid. Nobody respects them because they signed up to be henchmen and now the media demonizes them.

a reply to: ArchPlayer

Don't forget the killing issue.