Consider this the Veterans in Other News for today.

Florida and Texas tied for first place...in a very bad way
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 19, 2018

Consider this the Veterans in Other News for today.

Last week I got into a conversation about one of the "22" a day charities that I constantly complain about. I had to apologize about one group called Mission 22. The person I was talking to is heavily involved with them. He informed me that they are doing more than using the number. They are taking a personal interest in the veterans all by themselves.

One veteran was suicidal and they formed a chain to get someone to him. His life was saved. So yes, I was wrong and I am happy to admit that. I thought they were all the same, but they are not. Just goes to show how important it is to actually believe something is important enough to invest the time to discover what you need to know.

That got me thinking about how all of us need to do a better job when it comes to assuming anything. While trying to digest the crow I had to eat, I looked up Mission 22. I did not notice anything about this being only for post-9 11 veterans. That was a huge plus, as you will discover further down.

For the most part, too many hacks just saw the number, did no research other than how to set up their 501 c 3, and they ran with that. And that was the biggest reason of all contributing to the results you will now read.
The worst thing is, that for all the groups here in Florida, doing the "awareness" stunts, we have the highest total of known suicides, right along side of Texas. 

Actually both states have more known suicides than California. Florida and Texas had 530 while California had 490. Click the link and then see how your state did.

Florida has 1.5 million veterans, with about 76,000 OEF and OIF. Meaning the largest group of veterans are over the age of 50, which happen to be the majority of the known veterans dying by suicide.

And as for Florida and Texas, when the VA said they used the CDC numbers for veterans, the CDC said they have incomplete data for both states in the civilian population. Meaning they do not have a complete idea of how many veterans committed suicide.

7.1 million veterans used some services from the VA, so we know they are in their system. We do not know how many have not been included in any research. 


We also know that as of 2016, the year the data stops, there were 300,000 with other than honorable discharges, as reported by The New York Times and later by several other sources.

Since 2001, more than 300,000 people, about 13 percent of all troops, have been forced out of the military with less-than-honorable discharges. Congress has recognized in recent years that some of these discharges were the fault of dysfunctional screening for PTSD and other combat injuries, and it has put safeguards in place to prevent more — including requirements for mental health professionals to review all discharges

From Military Times

VVA officials estimate as many as 300,000 veterans nationwide may have been improperly dismissed from the service, leaving them more vulnerable to depression and suicide because of a lack of veterans health services.

Yet again, that is from OEF and OIF veterans, but not Vietnam veterans. This is what Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam Veteran, was trying to correct back in 2014, as reported on Army Times.

The suit estimated that about one-third of the 250,000 other-than-honorable discharges issued to Vietnam era veterans may have been PTSD-related. 

So, there you have the facts and the results with the virtual elimination of over half a million veterans from all the "facts" that the press has avoided mentioning within the big story of "22" or "20" veterans taking their own lives.

Still with all of that, this is the most telling thing of all. When you look at the data from the VA, it clearly shows the most alarming thing of all. The daily "reported" total of suicides in the veterans population has remained unchanged, yet the number of living veterans has dropped by over 4 million.
  
Known veteran suicides from 2005 to 2016

And as for current military members, it is as bad as it was back in 2012 with an average of 500 per year. This is as of the second quarter of 2018 from the Department of Defense.