The Washington Post published a very moving and timely editorial last Sunday, on Memorial Day. The Post urged us to keep all our veterans and their families in mind, but particularly those wounded in spirit as well as in body. The military is beginning to pay serious attention to the high rate of suicides and the numbers of soldiers reported to have post-traumatic stress disorder.
In 2005 the Army saw 86 suicides. By 2008 the number had risen to 133.
Three members of the famed 101st Airborne Division have been killed in combat in Afghanistan so far this year. Eleven have committed suicide in the same period of time. The Army has put Ft. Campbell, home of the 101st, on a three-day "standdown" to focus on this disturbing problem and encourage soldiers to seek help if they feel they are in danger of taking their own lives. The Army acknowledges that the only absolute remedy is for the troops to have more time with their families, but that is not likely to happen for at least the next 18 months.
Here is the link to the editorial:
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