No one held accountable for more suicides since last Memorial Day

No one held accountable for more suicides since last Memorial Day
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
May 26, 3013


Families across the country are going to graves that should have been empty. After all, the family member survived combat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Vietnam, but they could not survive back home. They just didn't get what they needed to hope for a better tomorrow to come. Too many yesterdays of bad had taken them into the abyss.

The latest study puts 22 veterans a day committing suicide. That equals 8,030 since last Memorial Day. Isn't that sad? When you consider the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have been spending billions a year addressing this devastating outcome for far too many, the truth is the numbers have increased. Add in the number of troops serving today's wars coupled with the citizen soldiers of the National Guards and Reservists and we're closer to 9,000. Why? Because National Guards and Reservists are not considered to be "veterans" therefore, not included in most studies just as the media failed to include them in the total of suicides for OEF and OIF veterans.

While the press put the total at 349, the truth is there are more because they left off the National Guards and Reservists, also reported by the DOD.

492 Military Suicides/Wounded Times

Families left behind blame themselves. Friends wonder what they missed. Sheri Johnson left a comment on a Wounded Times report Why Did We Let Trever Gould Die?

Hello I am Sheri Johnson Trever Gould's mother. A person does not know how hard they can ache until they lose a child. It hurts even more knowing my son did not get the help he need when he asked for it. He always acted strong around me because he was trained that way and thought he was my protector. We need to help our soldiers that come home and even the ones that are deployed. They need to be heard we need to be heard. I would give anything to hold my son one more time and tell him how much I love him, but I can't do this anymore and I want to change things so other parents and spouses can hold their loved ones every day.

Leaders look for someone else to blame. They point their fingers at problems with failed relationships but never seem to admit that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused many of the problems. They point to financial problems but never seem to mention the fact that PTSD also causes irrational thinking along with self-medicating. Drugs and alcohol are expensive but when they can't get the proper treatment, they use these substances to numb what they can no longer tolerate feeling.

Congress has held countless hearings on suicides tied to military service with Bill after Bill to "prevent" them but never seems to ask the one question everyone should have known the answer to before they tried another Bill. Why? Why do the numbers go up after all the money has been spent? Who is held accountable? What funds have been cut for what has already failed? Who has lost their jobs? Who has been demoted?

The media as a whole may do some great reporting on suicides but as soon as their editor puts them onto some other story they forget all about it. When they go out to interview military brass and VA representatives, they usually fail to take the time to discover what the facts are so when they hear something, they fail do ask followup questions. What happened to all the money spent since 2008? Why do the vast majority not seek help? Why do most of them fail to let anyone know they are in that much pain? After all we've seen the reports of the training they all received since the DOD started "resilience training" so they could become mentally tough and prevent PTSD.

We read the reports and the excuses but above that, we read what really happened when families come out and plead for someone to do something to prevent another family from burying someone who should still be here.

This was in the news right after Memorial Day last year.

“Those of us who've served and been in war, we've seen things that you haven't seen," said James Floyd, an Air Force veteran who served four tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan in six years. "We've done things that maybe some of us aren't so proud of, not that we wouldn't do it again if we had to.”

Floyd credits strong family support and the support of his veteran family at the V.F.W. Post 8787 in North Austin for helping him reacclimate back in to society. That hasn’t been the case for every veteran.

“Actually, I just found out that on Mother's Day one of my former troops committed suicide. He was having martial issues,” added Floyd.

The Associated Press reports that a staggering 45% of the 1.5 million soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are now filing for disability benefits at an historic rate. Other research also suggests that military suicides are now up 80%

“They're doing three, four and five tours. Where in Vietnam, unless you really wanted to, I would say the maximum tour, I would say a maximum of two years,” said P.K. Wright, a Vietnam Veteran who spoke to KVUE News Monday.

In June of 2012 it was reported that there had been 140 suicides from all branches according to the Pentagon. Five Marines had committed suicide the previous month.

Fort Bliss Major General Dana Pittard had to retract his comment that he thought suicides were a "selfish act" while posting, "I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act. I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us."

Fort Hood reported 7 soldiers had committed suicide in five months. A year later more graves are filled. Most of the veterans say that "resilience" training is adding to the stigma of seeking help. They say they feel it is their fault since the military told them this training would toughen their brains and prevent PTSD. They walk away with that message and know the rest of their unit heard the same thing. They don't want to admit they have problems since that would mean admitting they are not strong enough to their buddies. Then they also have the issue of military still discharging troops under "other than honorable" conditions.

How many more will end up in graves we put flags on next Memorial Day if we keep allowing the Military and the VA to continue to provide excuses instead of solutions? How many will die because no one has been held accountable?

If you want to know how we can prevent suicides, you have to know what has already failed. Read THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR and know the bitter truth.