Over 30,000 US Veterans of Post-9/11 Wars Have Killed Themselves Since 2001

[douglas9]

New research released Monday shows the post-9/11 wars launched by the U.S. military since 2001 have resulted in over 30,000 suicides by active duty American solders and veterans—over four times the number killed in combat operations.

According to Brown University's Costs of War Project—established in 2010 to account for the loss of lives and taxpayer dollars spent on U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—an estimated 30,177 veterans and service members have killed themselves over the last nearly two decades, compared with 7,057 members of the military who have been killed in combat.

The findings were compiled from interviews, government data, and secondary literature.



https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/06/21/over-30000-us-veterans-post-911-wars-have-killed-themselves-2001

[secondwind]

1. ....

[niyad]

2. Add them to the total from previous wars. Heartsick.

[onecaliberal]

3. Oh my...

[Biophilic]

4. This is unconscionable.

We sent them to war to enrich the wealthy and then we didn't provide the support systems they needed to feel life was worth living. What else can you say?

[The Blue Flower]

5. They answered the call to serve

They deserved so much more than despair and depression.

[AwakeAtLast]

6. My husband FINALLY got his PTSD diagnosis

He came back in 2006. It has lifted a lot of financial burden, but it took too long. We are hoping his knees or sleep apnea are next. It's been a long road.

[sarchasm]

7. .

[spike jones]

8. While in the army, I became friends with DB who was a good time, happy go lucky guy.

He was sent to Nam and I was not. Later I heard through a mutual friend that after he came back, he was changed to a sad guy that never smiled. Within seven months of returning from the war, he killed himself. His name is not on the wall.
Another Vietnam vet told me if you don’t understand that then, apparently, you have never seen what two grenades do to a room full of children.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. War is hell, to be avoided at almost all cost. And those numbers are tragic and staggering.

[llashram]

10. a damn shame

survive a war, kill one's self. War will change one's perception of what being human means. It did to me. I know this is probably a stupid thing to say here. I just hope their spirits are at peace. And their families can find the same, somehow, some way.

And in the last four years, the pissant POS trump didn't do us any favors either, dissing us every chance he could.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

11. Maybe this helps explain the number of vets in right-wing militias

But Stop Loss was immoral.

http://veteransforcommonsense.org/2004/08/19/army-extends-stop-loss-back-door-draft-to-reserve-and-national-guard/

[DashOneBravo]

12. I listened to a podcast

It was Thomas Schumann. He’s a USMC Infantry officer who fought in Afghanistan and now teaches at the Academy.

He was paying attention to the suicide rates and is part of a study that’s tracking it. He said that the majority of those were not people who are combat veterans.
He said that the majority of the suicides occurs within a year of getting out. He feels like it’s because they go from being with a tribe who will die for you. And they can’t find that in the civilian world.

He mentioned a recent study but I was unable to find it