6000 Veterans Commited Suicide Last Year!

Originally posted by Ancient_Fury
I really was just a pawn the whole damn time. What keeps me goin are the things i learned about warfare and combat, honor and what it means to be a WARRIOR and not just a marine or soldier of the rank and file. Next time i'll bring the fight to someone who really deserves it, and that is a promise...

That's the most sobering thing 've read for a while, thanks for sharing.

You got some grit in there in still, the 6000 musta run out. You're lastline ... there's a damn good solution right there.

peace

reply to post by ugie1028


that's weird because I'm a veteran and I'm being treated for a suicide attempt last April. It's weird to explain, but, I wasn't feeling suicidal at the time. It was just something I watched myself do as the weird feelings came over me and the knife slid across my wrist. The only reason I lived was because it wasn't sharp enough to slice more than half my wrist. I wasn't depressed or angry or upset or anything. I just knew I was going to kill someone, so, rather than my family or neighbors I chose myself. And just that quick I set to work doing it, wondering why the whole time and still. I'm not sure if my attempt is related but it does make me curious now.

reply to post by ararisq


Obviously one or BOTH are either lying... or covering up. One death is ONE too many... 6000 would be the ultimate example of criminal neglect if it were actually proven to be true. I suspect that many of these guys came home to family problems with no knowledge as to how they should deal with it. My heart goes out to them and all their family members... whatever their circumstance is.

people should not choose to become soldiers and work for the government if they are not prepared for any cover up or any gruesome graphical scene.

Originally posted by PhyberDragon
reply to post by ugie1028

 

that's weird because I'm a veteran and I'm being treated for a suicide attempt last April. It's weird to explain, but, I wasn't feeling suicidal at the time. It was just something I watched myself do as the weird feelings came over me and the knife slid across my wrist. The only reason I lived was because it wasn't sharp enough to slice more than half my wrist. I wasn't depressed or angry or upset or anything. I just knew I was going to kill someone, so, rather than my family or neighbors I chose myself. And just that quick I set to work doing it, wondering why the whole time and still. I'm not sure if my attempt is related but it does make me curious now.

soldiers are trained to kill so when you have been in the military for such a long time, you instantly want to kill someone, you have to kill someone they force that instinct in you to come out and kill. When you come home everything changed, you don't know what to do so, to stop yourself from killing "innocents" you kill yourself.

reply to post by On the Edge


What's deplorable? That men let their hearts dictate their actions to allow them to kill another for their beliefs or that wise men benefit from it? If they weren't so hot headed and gung ho they wouldn't walk into the trap of being pawns. No clear headed individual made such an easy target.

reply to post by PhyberDragon


hey man, i am glad you got the help you needed. I am really happy that your still alive and kicking. You have a lot of people who have your back here on this board and elsewhere. No one wants to see their veterans taking their own life.

Others were not so lucky. glad your pulled though that point in your life.

Just remember, if you get those urges, or feelings, ask for some help. Friends, family, or a member on ATS. there are people out there who care, and are aware of the current situation. your not alone.

Best wishes from NJ, and thanks for your sacrifice.

reply to post by anonymousproxy


its not the soldiers fault really. some were brainwashed into thinking what they were doing was a good thing. They were trained to kill, trained for battle. soldiers kill. its war. Its the leadership thats the problem sending these men and women to wars of aggression for profit. if anything blame them, not our fellow countrymen.

I can only try to imagine what it's like coming back from a war zone.

But I'm sure it must chnage your perspective on a lot of things. You get back home and listen to people complaining about insignificant things knowing that out there death and destruction happens day and daily without a thought for local people caught up in it all.

We all saw the videos put out by wikileaks and it was hard to watch. Imagine putting up with that everyday. Your senses are numbed. You get home and your wife or kid is crying cos they missed a tv program or the local shop ran out of the favourite flavour ... wtf ... your gonna snap.

Its a bad business.

reply to post by anonymousproxy


You'd be surprised how you end up doing what you do. It's not always a clear cut choice to just do these things. It's all in how you interpret your vague instructions.

reply to post by ugie1028


Thanks. Like I was trying to express, it was n't an urge or a desire on my part. It was more like an instinct.

reply to post by anonymousproxy


interesting insight.
2nd line.

reply to post by Brotherman


I'm not sure if the American army / defence force is any different to Australia,
but why don’t they stay in the defence force and do a core transfer,
that’s what some aussie diggers do, they join as infantry or whatever else is available, then they get a core transfer to engineering, mechanics, you name it its available, all the training comes with certificates need in the civilian work force. So when they do discharge they have qualifications.

reply to post by ararisq


Since you didn't provide any links to what you say, and I WANTED to believe you over this news piece, I went looking. It seems that the numbers in this article are correct.

www.defense.gov...

With more than 6,000 veterans committing suicide every year –- and 98 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan taking their own lives during fiscal 2009 alone -- the Department of Veterans Affairs is redoubling its outreach to veterans and promoting its toll-free suicide-prevention hotline.

www.armytimes.com...

At a suicide prevention conference on Monday in Washington, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki....

He noted that of the more than 30,000 suicides each year in America, about 20 percent are committed by veterans.

"Why do we know so much about suicides but still know so little about how to prevent them?" Shinseki said. "Simple question, but we continue to be challenged."

That is extremely disturbing to know that vets are killing themselves at such an alarming rate.

It should be noted though, and I kn ow it doesn't really matter in the bigger picture, but vet does not automatically equal Iraq/Afghanistan. There are many others out there who have served in their 40's/50's/60's as well that need just as much help.

reply to post by ugie1028


"does it bother anyone here that 6000 veterans have committed suicide last year? (2009) this was just brought to my attention today, and it is not sitting right. What is causing these soldiers to kill themselves, and why has it been kept quiet? I have a few friends who are veterans of the current war. their mental stability is obviously shot, and i of course feel for them understanding with what war can do to someones mind."

Yeah it bothers me as a former military member.

I think a lot of ppl turn to the military as they feel they have no
other options.

There is a small percentage that feel they are doing something
of honor and I respect them, but as Smedley Butler said "War is a Racket"

The Business Plot foiled by Smedley Butler

I wish these ppl could have got the help they needed, but I think TPTB
could really care less about them and just act like they care when
the camera is in their face.

Ppl like Kissinger have made this all too clear.

Kissinger quote on military men

As he is one of the top level ppl at Trilateral, CFR, and Bilderberg
I can assume they have similar if not exact equal thoughts.

Thou I must say I seriously doubt most of them would say it in public.

Any of the ppl that are mentally fried need to be given a psych eval
under hypnosis to know if they are lying and if they are truly
on the verge of harming themselves or others as has also happened
it is time to stop sending them back to the war over and over.

They need to come home, get help and work on one of the bases
stateside and the war machine here can recruit new meat
for the grinder.

For those ppl that say these ppl volunteered, you do not realize that
they were lied to just like I was before I went into the military.

If I had known I would work 80+ hrs a week for less than
minimum wage on unsafe equipment that had been cannibalized
to keep other equipment running, I would not have joined.

If I had known a welder could apply to transfer to my department
with only classroom knowledge and be put in charge of the
entire radar system array with zero hands on experience,
I would not have joined.

There are many things "broken" in the military, the government,
and out society, and I perceive they are getting worse.

The rich use money as marionette strings to play politicians as puppets.

I also perceive that most ppl are too busy playing Xbox, watching
sports, or some fake drama on TV to really care about their country
til it personally starts cramping their style.

My personal preparations are simply to get out of the way when
this all spirals out of control and Hyper inflation makes its 36th
appearance if you are counting the 100 to 1 revaluation in N. Korea.

Examples of Hyperinflation

I hope the best for the ppl that are in the military for whatever reason,
and I wish the ppl in DC truly cared about them more than the
Military Industrial Complex as Eisenhower so wisely warned.

Prepare accordingly, but do it peacefully...

Good Luck to you all !

[edit on 11-5-2010 by Ex_MislTech]

reply to post by GAOTU789


I think he was just referring to the ones currently serving.

you provided great info to the thread, thanks!

I was hoping he was right too, but that just... damn it sucks! poor vets!

reply to post by GAOTU789


The first article seems to either contradict itself OR is showing its not necessarily combat veterans. It mentions the 6,000 but it also says 98 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans committed suicide.

Personally I lean towards 6,000 may have attempted suicide, even then....that seems a bit too high. Either way, it is high, and one reason why we all have to go through mental health assessments when we get home now.

reply to post by Drexl


I seem to recall a speech by the President in 2001 that said if you harbored/supported terrorists (not just those connected to 9/11) that meant to do the US harm, we were going to come knocking.

Why is it so many people cannot remember that?

Insanity and Suicide

A perfectly natural and rational response to an irrational and unnatural act which is war, killing, death, and destruction...one human to one human.
Once the ball is set into action it is off and running.

So in reality these soldiers are sane and the ones saying these acts are insane are not sane.

Humans were not originally intended to war with one another until it was bread into them. They are trying to undo it now on a physical level...you have heard of the proverbial " the feminized male" and the masculinized female.

In my honest opinion it isn't the genetics(physical) so much that needs to be changed as it is the mind (ego structure, spirit, soul, whatever you want to call it). which can only be brought about by divine spiritual intervention means. Remember I said spiritual, not religious.

Just like in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says.

Selfishness, Self-centeredness- That we think is the (ROOT) of our troubles. (DRIVEN) by a 100 forms of fear, self seeking, self-pity we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.

[edit on 11-5-2010 by superluminal11]

reply to post by vipertech0596


Ya, thats why I added the relevant text from the article so it is here on the page for everyone to see and added the bit at the bottom about vets cover more than just the current wars.

[edit on 11-5-2010 by GAOTU789]