Army suicides set another yearly record

The screaming fact is that while the numbers they report has gone up, they are not reporting all of them. Consider when a soldier is no longer active. The DOD will not track what happens to him or her. They may not be in the VA system, which reports 18 veteran suicides a day and another 10,000 a year attempting suicide. Still there are many more not bring tracked by the VA either. That's the thing we always need to remember. The numbers being reported are just the ones they are sure about. The rest, well, they just vanish from all records but not from the minds and hearts of the people who loved them.

Army suicides set another yearly record
By Mike Mount, CNN Senior Pentagon Producer
November 17, 2009 7:57 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Officials say recent trend downward could mean Army is making headway in prevention
As of Tuesday, 211 active duty soldiers and reservists have killed themselves the year
In 2008, total was 197 suicides among active duty soldiers and reservists
Fort Campbell, Fort Stewart and Schofield Barracks singled out for special concern

Washington (CNN) -- Suicides among soldiers this year have topped last year's record-breaking numbers, but Army officials maintain a recent trend downward could mean the service is making headway on its programs designed to reduce the problem, Army officials said Tuesday.

Since January, 140 active-duty soldiers have killed themselves while another 71 Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers killed themselves in the same time period, totaling 211 as of Tuesday, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, U.S. Army vice chief of staff, told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. But he said the monthly numbers are starting to slow down as the year nears its end.

"This is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way," Chiarelli said.

For all of 2008, the Army said 140 active-duty soldiers killed themselves while 57 Guard and Reserve soldiers committed suicide, totaling 197, according to Army statistics.

The Army is still trying to tackle why soldiers are killing themselves.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/17/army.suicides/index.html