Quote:Tyler Schlagel slipped out of his parents' house while they were asleep three weeks ago and drove through the wintry darkness to his favorite fishing lake high in the Rockies.

Mr. Schlagel, a 29-year-old former Marine corporal who was stocking shelves at a sporting goods store, carried with him the eight journals he had filled during tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also carried a .40-caliber pistol.

Under the bright mountain stars, he kindled a small campfire. When the flames grew high, he threw the journals into the fire, then shot himself in the head.

Mr. Schlagel's death Dec. 9 was the 14th suicide in his military unit -- the Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment -- since the group returned from a bloody tour in Afghanistan in 2008. Many other members have attempted suicide, one just three days after Mr. Schlagel's death.

The suicide rate for the 1,200 Marines who deployed together -- most now out of the military -- is nearly four times as high as for young male veterans as a whole and 14 times as high as that for all Americans.

After a New York Times report in September about the suicides underscored shortcomings in the government's ability to monitor and treat mental health problems among veterans, members of Congress called for the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the issue. But those efforts have remained halting and incomplete, critics say.

A big part of the problem is that the veterans of the unit, like hundreds of thousands of other young veterans, fall between the cracks of the two enormous institutions. The military's authority stops when troops leave active duty. The V.A.'s starts only if veterans come in for benefits or medical care -- and many do not seek that care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/us/sui...rsist.html

Fixing this epidemic needs to be a priority. First action should be to find the source.

this breaks my heart

I wonder if we aren't screening or not doing a good enough job screening folks before assigning jobs and sending them into a war zone. A lot of people can't handle it, which is understandable, but it isn't doing anyone any justice to send those in that can't.

Too many of these Guys were sent back into action over and over with only limited time back home between deployments. Many in Iraq and Afghanistan also were National Guardsmen that were used in combat missions and spent far more time away from home over seas than at home to protect the U.S. here. I guess that was the one benefit to the draft in that Guys were rotated and served usually a 2 year term. Lot's of These Guys have been going back into action for 10 years now. It takes it's toll.

Is the suicide rate for combat vets, for Afghanistan/Iraq, much higher than Vietnam, Korea, WWll and if yes why?

(12-30-2015 04:35 PM)CardFan1 Wrote:  Too many of these Guys were sent back into action over and over with only limited time back home between deployments. Many in Iraq and Afghanistan also were National Guardsmen that were used in combat missions and spent far more time away from home over seas than at home to protect the U.S. here. I guess that was the one benefit to the draft in that Guys were rotated and served usually a 2 year term. Lot's of These Guys have been going back into action for 10 years now. It takes it's toll.

We need the draft. Too many mamas boys are getting off easy.

Honestly, I think that sending troops home for a limited time and then sending them back overseas messes with their heads more than a straight 4 year tour of duty. A mind can't go from war zone to tranquility to war zone again.

22 vets commit suicide a day


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(12-31-2015 10:08 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  22 vets commit suicide a day


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Is that a greater rate, per capita, than the general population?

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(12-31-2015 10:55 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:08 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  22 vets commit suicide a day


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Is that a greater rate, per capita, than the general population?

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I think the US is at 12.3


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(12-31-2015 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:55 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:08 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  22 vets commit suicide a day


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Is that a greater rate, per capita, than the general population?

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I think the US is at 12.3


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Sadly, the only suicides I hear about are the ones committed by ostracized gays. All suicides matter and are tragedies.

(12-31-2015 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:55 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:08 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  22 vets commit suicide a day


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Is that a greater rate, per capita, than the general population?

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I think the US is at 12.3


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Is it concentrated among combat vets or do the paper pushers and base support also have higher rates?

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(12-30-2015 04:35 PM)CardFan1 Wrote:  Too many of these Guys were sent back into action over and over with only limited time back home between deployments. Many in Iraq and Afghanistan also were National Guardsmen that were used in combat missions and spent far more time away from home over seas than at home to protect the U.S. here. I guess that was the one benefit to the draft in that Guys were rotated and served usually a 2 year term. Lot's of These Guys have been going back into action for 10 years now. It takes it's toll.

Yes sir, it does. I had to do story on a 29-year-old fallen ranger who'd had six deployments. That got me to wondering how many deployments some of these guys getting killed had been on. I'm told Ranger rotations are usually shorter in duration but still ...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/soldier-in-a...eployment/

(12-31-2015 11:04 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:55 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-31-2015 10:08 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  22 vets commit suicide a day


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Is that a greater rate, per capita, than the general population?

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I think the US is at 12.3


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Is it concentrated among combat vets or do the paper pushers and base support also have higher rates?

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It's all across the board since support do actually engage in firefights and get pulled to do infantry, well at least in the Marines. I know of an admin guy who has a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat V from his first deployment.


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