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Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans 18 November 07
Section: article
Categories: Mention
Some excerpts from this CBS News report found via Michael Moore’s website.
They are the casualties of wars you don’t often hear about – soldiers who die of self-inflicted wounds. Little is known about the true scope of suicides among those who have served in the military.
In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.
It found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets. (Veterans committed suicide at the rate of between 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000, compared to other Americans, who did so at the rate of 8.9 per 100,000.)
One age group stood out. Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror [sic]. They had the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same age. (The suicide rate for non-veterans is 8.3 per 100,000, while the rate for veterans was found to be between 22.9 and 31.9 per 100,000.)
What we won’t find in the mainstream news is that one of the underlying reasons for this tragedy involves these young people finding themselves in a situation where they are killing and terrorizing innocent men, women and, above all, children, carrying out a war of aggression for a system which ultimately uses them as cannon fodder.
- Title: Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans