Intense emotional distress number one reason for Military Suicide Attempts

Study reveals top reason behind soldiers' suicides
By Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY

When researchers asked 72 soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo., why they tried to kill themselves, out of the 33 reasons they had to choose from, all of the soldiers included one in particular — a desire to end intense emotional distress.

"This really is the first study that provides scientific data saying that the top reason … these guys are trying to kill themselves is because they have this intense psychological suffering and pain," said Craig Bryan, co-author of the study by the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah that will be published in the coming months.

Suicide within the military has soared since 2005 as the military has waged two wars at once, and this year may set a record with troops committing suicide at the rate of one per day, according to Pentagon figures.

But military scientists say that finally, after years of congressional funding and the launch of randomized studies of a subject rarely researched, a few validated results are beginning to surface.
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I guess I should feel really glad that I was right so long ago but this is one of the saddest days of my life. How many lives could have been saved if someone listened? Think of it from my perspective. I've been reading what experts had to say about Combat PTSD and reports about veterans for 30 years. If I could figure this out when the troops were sent into Afghanistan in 2001, why couldn't the military and the government?

Iraq vet accused of election fraud in Pa.

Iraq vet accused of election fraud in Pa.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — A disabled Iraq war veteran and his wife are charged with forging dozens of names on nominating petitions in a bid for a seat in the Pennsylvania legislature.

Lycoming County detectives say Christopher Bain and his wife Misty faked 61 signatures on petitions he filed seeking a spot in April's 83rd district Republican primary.
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Veterans Affairs backlog leaves half a million waiting for benefits

Massive Veterans Affairs backlog leaves half a million waiting for benefits
July 10, 2012
by David Martin
CBS News

(CBS News) MANASSAS, Va. - It's Iraq, 2003, and a tragedy is about to happen. A photo shows a marine preparing to pull the trigger on a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. When he did, it blew up. After the smoke cleared two marines lay dead and Aaron Helstrom was riddled with shrapnel.

"I've got a fused spine that's causing me pain every day," Helstrom said.

He returned to active duty, served a tour in Afghanistan, and went on to become a master sergeant. Several months before he finally retired, Helstrom submitted a disability claim to the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA.

After War: Eye on Veterans Affairs

It lists a total of 65 conditions ranging from his shrapnel wounds to PTSD which would qualify him for $2,800 a month in disability pay.

"They say at the time of your retirement or when you get out you will start receiving your compensation claim," Helstrom said. "That's not the case."
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Tampa soldier dies in Afghanistan attack that claimed 6

Tampa soldier dies in Afghanistan attack that claimed 6
By Marlene Sokol and Robbyn Mitchell
Times Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

TAMPA — It was 6:15 Monday morning and Ignacia Seija was getting ready for her job as an airport custodian.

Her two dogs started barking. Her husband saw two men in military uniforms approaching their West Tampa home.

"When I saw those two men, I knew it wasn't anything good," Ignacia Seija said in Spanish. "I knew my son had died."

Her son, Army Staff Sgt. Ricardo Seija, 31, was killed Sunday in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.

It was the same attack, a family member said, that had killed Army Sgt. Clarence Williams III, 23, of Brooksville and four other Americans. They were riding in an armored vehicle in Wardak province, just south of Kabul, when an improvised explosive device went off.

The knock on the door of the West Tampa home was the second visit military officers had made early Monday to deliver grim news. At 5 a.m., officers told the Williams family that their son, a 2008 Hernando High grad who hoped to someday become a Florida Highway Patrol trooper, had died in the attack.

Williams and Seija became the 27th and 28th Tampa Bay area service members to have died in Afghanistan.
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Push to hire veterans working, veterans finding jobs

New Veteran Unemployment Falls in June
STARS AND STRIPES

WASHINGTON -- The unemployment rate for veterans of the post-Sept. 11 era dropped to 9.5 percent in June, potentially indicating a positive trend in veterans hiring even as national employment remains stagnant.

The June young veteran unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics mark the fourth month this year that the rate has dipped below 10 percent. From January 2010 to December 2011, it dropped below 10 percent only twice. Last month, the rate was 12.7 percent, and a year ago, more than 13 percent of those veterans were out of work.

The White House and Congress in recent months have pushed government agencies and private companies to hire veterans, especially those who recently returned from fighting overseas. Legislation creating new jobs programs for veterans of all eras was one of the few significant pieces of legislation signed into law last year.
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