Illinois Veterans Missing in Suicide Data

Just to give you an idea of how many veterans the following article is about, here is the breakdown for the state of Illinois

721,575 Total
539,880 War time
206,504 Gulf War
241,854 Vietnam
65,381 Korean
37,506 WWII
181,695 Peacetime
54,707 Female
666,868 Male

Think about how many veterans from Illinois would not have been included in the suicide research.

Tom Cullerton advances measures to combat veterans' suicide epidemic
Daily Herald
March 8, 2017

SPRINGFIELD- State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) has started tackling obstacles found during the Veterans Suicide Taskforce hearings.

Cullerton advanced Senate Bill 1693 to allow deceased veterans with military service to include their veteran status, branch of military and the period of time served in the military on their death certificate.

"We need to get to the cause of veteran suicide," Cullerton said. "The only way to tackle the problem is to have a complete picture. This is a simple way to collect statistics and honor Illinois' veterans."

The idea was suggested by DuPage County Coroner Richard Jorgenson, who indicated that veteran suicide was under reported since Illinois death certificates do not include information on the history of U.S. military service.

"These are our nation's heroes. They took care of us, now it is our time to take care of them," Cullerton said. "Every life we save is priceless."

Cullerton also advanced Senate Bill 866 to require the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) to provide information and education on service animals to veterans.
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