Army to soldier, go to jail if you try suicide and fail

Under military law, soldiers who attempt suicide can be prosecuted under the theory that it affects the order and discipline of a unit and brings discredit to the armed forces. In reality, criminal charges are extremely rare unless there is evidence the attempt was an effort to avoid service or endangered others.

Army charges Iraq vet over self-inflicted gun wound
Despite years of exemplary service, Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, right, could face prison over a mental breakdown in Iraq.

Army charges Iraq vet over self-inflicted gun wound
By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
The Washington Post


Despite years of exemplary service, Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, right, could face prison over a mental breakdown in Iraq.

MICHEL DU CILLE
Now a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, 25, is undergoing a court-martial and faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted.
WASHINGTON — In a nondescript conference room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside listened last week as an Army prosecutor outlined the criminal case against her. The charges: attempting suicide and endangering the life of another soldier while serving in Iraq.
Her hands trembled as Maj. Stefan Wolfe, the prosecutor, argued that Whiteside, now a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed, should be court-martialed. After seven years of exemplary service, the Army reservist faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted.
Military psychiatrists at Walter Reed who examined Whiteside, 25, after she recovered from her self-inflicted gun wound diagnosed her with a severe mental disorder, possibly triggered by the stresses of a war zone. But Whiteside's superiors considered her mental illness "an excuse" for criminal conduct, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
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According to the report on suicides, there were over 900 others who seriously attempt suicide each year while serving. Did they arrest all of them? Did they put them all on trial for trying to take their own lives? Or did they do the right thing and look at the reason they tried to commit suicide? This is torture beyond belief and we are paying to prosecute them? That's right folks. Our money is paying to put them on trial instead of going to treat them for what their minds have to go through. Is this nation ever going to get totally serious about any of this or are we still going to allow for empty promises and claims with no connection to facts?