The Strength Within: One NCO's Experience with Suicide and PTSD

The Strength Within: One NCO's Experience with Suicide and PTSD
Sep 12, 2007
BY Elizabeth M. Lorge
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 12, 2007) - In the face of rising suicide rates among Soldiers, the Army is making a renewed effort to help Soldiers at risk and educate Soldiers and leaders about the signs to look for in their battle buddies and subordinates. That education is crucial in saving Soldiers' lives, said retired 1st Sgt. Cornell Swanier.

He has first-hand experience with suicide - as a prevention-education coordinator, as a noncommissioned officer who lost a Soldier and as a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder who has thought about killing himself. On Thanksgiving Day, 2002, he got the call every leader dreads. One of the Soldiers he had brought safely through a deployment to Kuwait for Operation Enduring Freedom was dead by his own hand, an event 1st Sgt. Swanier is still trying to comprehend. "I really got close to my Soldiers," he said. "I really tried to know the Soldiers, know their families, from top to bottom. It was tough on me. It's still tough on me to this day to walk in the barracks room and to see a dead Soldier. When Thanksgiving comes around, I think about that Soldier."
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http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/09/12/4829-
the-strength-within-one-ncos-experience-with-suicide-and-ptsd/


also

Suicide Prevention: Watch Out for Your Buddy
Sep 10, 2007
BY J.D. Leipold
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sep. 10, 2007) - In conjunction with National Suicide Prevention Week Sep. 9-15, the Army wants Soldiers and their Families to know help is available to those struggling with issues that sometimes bring about suicide.

"This year's strategy focuses on three key points - training the Army Family in positive life skills, buddy care and counseling through a variety of ways," said Army Chief of Chaplains Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Douglas L. Carver. "I think educating our leaders, Soldiers and Families on what to look for in suicidal behaviors has made our people more sensitive and aware."

Soldiers who commit suicide usually do so because they can't see another way out of a painful situation Chaplain Carver said. Frequent and longer deployments add yet more burden, especially on relationships, he said.

"We've looked pretty closely at all the various factors involved in Soldier suicide - failed relationships, this long war," said Chaplain Carver, "yet the morale of our Soldiers is as high as it's ever been because they sense the importance of their mission down-range and they look out for one another."
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http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/09/10/4765-
suicide-prevention-watch-out-for-your-buddy/