Reporters need to do more on military suicides

Reporters need to do more on military suicides
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
May 7, 2013

Yesterday James Dao's article on the New York Times, came out after waiting months for it. Why was I waiting? Because people in the article are people I know. While Dao did a good job telling their stories in Baffling Rise in Suicides Plagues the U.S. Military there was a lot more information that should have been included beginning with the simple fact of where he got the stories from. Not the first time that happened but I am determined to let that be the last time it happened to Wounded Times.

I was reading another report on the New York Times this morning and thought it was wonderful how Andrew Lehren was writing about National Guards and Reservists committing suicide but being overlooked. Then I made the face. The face that I used to get from my Mom whenever I did something wrong (which was often) and she was very disappointed in me.

I am disappointed right now because I saw hopes getting these numbers right evaporate.

Lehren wrote that according to James Griffith "Guard and Reserve totals are undercounted." But the fact is the DOD puts out a suicide report every month for the Army in the first paragraph and in the second paragraph are the Army National Guards and Army Reserves. Much like what happened in February for the total of 2012 suicides.

Army Releases December 2012 and Calendar Year 2012 Suicide Information

During December, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were 15 potential suicides (10 Army National Guard and five Army Reserve): 4 have been confirmed as suicides and 11 remain under investigation. For November, among that same group, the Army reported 15 potential suicides (12 Army National Guard and 3 Army Reserve): 10 have been confirmed as suicides and 5 remain under investigation.

For 2012, there have been 143 potential not on active-duty suicides (96 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve): 117 have been confirmed as suicides and 26 remain under investigation.

Not on active-duty suicide numbers for 2011: 118 (82 Army National Guard and 36 Army Reserve) confirmed as suicides and no cases under investigation.

Is Griffith trying to say that those numbers are "undercounted" or is he saying reporters do not count them? After all the uproar over the number of military suicides stating there were 350 did not include what the DOD even released as the Army National Guard and Army Reservists. This does not even include the other Reservists from other branches, but again, reporters do not seem too interested in them either.

Here is part of the article.

Why National Guard and Reservist Suicide Numbers May Be Misleading
New York Times
By ANDREW W. LEHREN
May 16, 2013

More than 80 percent of the services members who committed suicide in recent years had never been in combat. This is one of the many statistics that the Pentagon and researchers are currently struggling to explain. My colleague James Dao and I explore the tragic rising military suicide numbers in an article today.

The numbers above are striking. Over the course of nearly 12 years and two wars, suicide among active-duty troops has risen steadily, hitting a record of 350 in 2012.

One aspect of suicide statistics that is often overlooked – in large part because it’s so hard to quantify – is the number of National Guard and Reserve members of the various branches of the armed service who commit suicide when they are not on active duty.

Army Guard members and reservists appear to have higher suicide rates than active-duty soldiers, according to research and published Pentagon reports. These numbers, which are already escalating well above comparable civilian levels, may also be undercounting the problem by not counting all the National Guard members and reservists who are not on active duty, some experts say. That is because those deaths are often handled by local coroners who may not document that they involve members of the military.
read more here

The DOD has yet to release the Suicide Event Report for 2012. This report usually comes out in April. It breaks down every branch of the military and also includes attempted suicide data. (Another topic that reporters have failed to cover.) What is frightening to most of the people tracking these reports is what Jacqueline Garrick, acting director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, told Congress about the number of suicides and the data being entered for 2012 that "expect an increase in the suicide rate for 2012 upon the completion of investigations and final determinations of manner of death."

Congress has held over 30 votes on ending Obamacare, even though the American people need it. If it isn't perfect, then Congress needs to fix it. Congress has held hearing after hearing on Benghazi, even though not much new information has come out. Most of what is going on in Washington is politically based but this one issue, this one issue that should never be political but is in fact patriotic, has not led to any accountability from anyone.

There is something else that is underreported and that is the simple fact that 57% of the suicides tied to military service came after they sought help. That information came from Senator Joe Donnely when he was talking about how 43% did not seek help. All this ends up screaming for accountability that is not happening. No one is asking the right questions other than Wounded Times.

Why? Because all of these reports are tracked daily across the country. I hear from the families when it is too late and friends wonder what they missed. The people responsible for all of this have gotten away with giving false information, pointing fingers away from them and misleading the American people while claiming they are doing everything possible to address it.

When I was researching THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR, even I was shocked by what was left out of all the news reports. The billions of dollars spent on "prevention" programs that have proven to be a waste of time and money. How do we end up with more suicides now than when they were doing nothing to "prevent" them? How do we end up with veterans furious over the fact that what I tell them is the first time they heard it and they suffered needlessly all this time?

I am not a reporter but I managed to find all this information. Why haven't reporters done the same?

No one will be held accountable for any of this until reporters actually tell the whole truth and not simply repeat what they are told.