What does "one too many" suicide slogan mean?

What does "one too many" suicide slogan mean?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 28, 2014

The VA's War: Department Of Veterans Affairs And Congress Clash Over Suicide Charges is a headline that deserves many questions.

If you have been paying attention to suicides tied to military service, you must be tired of hearing, “even one suicide is one too many." It doesn't matter if the person saying those words represents the Department of Defense, the VA or service groups. No one ever explains what they mean by "too many."

Too many for what? To cause the Department of Defense to change what they did? For them to be honest with what the records prove? To explain why they stopped releasing the data necessary for researchers to study the demographics of troops committing suicide as well as attempting suicide? The last Suicide Event Report was released in 2012 regarding the number of military suicides for 2011.

The AFMES indicates that 301 Service Members died by suicide in 2011

(Air Force = 50, Army = 167, Marine Corps = 32, Navy = 52).

This number includes deaths strongly suspected to be suicides that are pending final determination.

DoDSER Points of Contact (POCs) submitted reports for 100% of AFMES confirmed 2011 suicides

(Air Force = 46, Army = 159, Marine Corps = 31, Navy = 51)

as of the data extraction date (26 April 2012).

A total of 915 Service Members attempted suicide in 2011

(Air Force = 241, Army = 432, Marine Corps = 156, Navy = 86)

DoDSERs were submitted for 935 suicide attempts

(Air Force = 251, Army = 440, Marine Corps = 157, Navy = 87)

Of the 915 Service Members who attempted suicide, 896 had one attempt, 18 had two attempts, and 1 had three attempts.

This report went on to say "Nearly one-half of suicide decedents had a history of OEF, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), or OND deployment (n = 134, 46.69%), and twenty-three of these (8.01%) had a history of multiple deployments. Suicide attempt DoDSERs reported more previous deployments than did suicide DoDSERs (n = 377, 40.32%). Direct combat experience was reported for 44 suicide decedents (15.33%) and 158 suicide attempts (16.90%)."

The STARRS study finding agrees with this assessment. "Soldiers who have deployed at least once do have an elevated suicide rate compared with Soldiers who never deployed," Schoenbaum said.

Yet since then the DOD has been saying that "most had not been deployed."

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that military members’ risk of suicide was associated with the same factors as those in the civilian population: being male, and suffering from depression and alcohol or drug abuse.

The study by Cynthia A. LeardMann, M.P.H., of the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, and colleagues, comes eight years after the military suicide rate began climbing as the military fought two wars.

The findings of the study — thought to be the first that in addition to tracking active-duty troops, followed servicemembers after they resumed civilian life — counter the conventional wisdom that combat stress, number of deployments and the operations tempo as the U.S. fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had caused more troops to take their own lives.

“In this sample of current and former military personnel … suicide risk was independently associated with male sex and mental disorders but not with military-specific variables,” the study, “Risk Factors Associated with Suicide in Current and Former U.S. Military Personnel,” said.

The press ignored the STARRS report and simply repeated the report the DOD wanted them to focus on.

The other factor to all of this comes from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

New suicide data released by the department on Thursday showed that the rate of veterans suicide remained largely unchanged over that three-year period, the latest for which statistics are available. About 22 veterans a day take their own life, according to department estimates.

But while older veterans saw a slight decrease in suicides, male veterans under 30 saw a 44 percent increase in the rate of suicides. That’s roughly two young veterans a day who take their own life, most just a few years after leaving the service.

“Their rates are astronomically high and climbing,” said Jan Kemp, VA’s National Mental Health Director for Suicide Prevention. “That’s concerning to us.”

Yet the VA did not explain why there were so many after this report was released.

VA efforts since 2007 have shown some results. The Veterans Crisis Line — a national phone line — has experienced a steady increase in the number of calls, texts and chat session visits from former soldiers struggling with suicidal thoughts. In 2007, its first year, 9,379 calls went to the crisis line. Each year the call volume has increased, reaching a high of 193,507 calls in 2012, totaling about 840,000 overall, according to the VA.

If they do not have to explain anything, nothing will change. So what do you think "one too many" really means to them?

Paralyzed Marine getting control in smart home

Wounded Marine getting a smart home
Gadsden Times
BY JOHN DAVIDSON
February 26, 2014

In this Feb. 25, 2014 photo, Jacksonville High School students attend the groundbreaking of a ìSmart Homeî for retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson, in Jacksonville, Ala. Tomlinson was shot in the back, leaving him paralyzed him from the chest down. The construction of the home is a joint project involving various charities.
(AP Photo/The Gadsden Times, Eric T. Wright)

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- The next steps toward helping a wounded U.S. Marine become independent happened as organizers from various charities broke ground at the site of his future home.

Retired Sgt. Ben Tomlinson of Jacksonville served in the Marines in the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion in Camp Lejeune, N.C., and deployed twice to the Helmand Province, the center of the Taliban insurgency and opium trade in Afghanistan. He was shot in the back, leaving him paralyzed him from the chest down.

His home will be a "smart home," meaning nearly every facet of the house will be able to accommodate Tomlinson. The cabinets and counter tops raise and lower and the hallways are much wider to accommodate his wheelchair.

The air conditioning, heating and lighting also can be customized, and all of the adjustable functions can be controlled through an iPad or iPhone.
read more here

Did reporter use "race card" on Marine Rafael Peralta's story?

Fallen Marine Rafael Peralta’s family accuses reporter of playing ‘race card’
Supporters still press for Medal of Honor
Washington Times
Stephen Dinan
February 27, 2014

Ten years after a 2004 firefight in Iraq, Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s death continues to ignite controversy, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last week refusing to reopen his nomination for the Medal of Honor and the Marine’s family accusing a newspaper of race-baiting in its reporting on the standoff.

Peralta’s mother, Rosa, said in a letter this week that a reporter for The Washington Post seemed intent on trying to get her to say her son was denied the Medal of Honor because he was Hispanic.

Some Marines who were on duty with Peralta on Nov. 15, 2004, the day he and his squad were clearing houses in Fallujah, were stunned that their comrades were now saying the story that Peralta scooped a grenade to himself, saving a number of Marines’ lives, was a concocted lie.

“If you’re trying to smear the legacy of a Marine who’s a hero, who saved my life, then you’re barking up the wrong … tree,” said Nicholas Jones, one of the Marines in the room when insurgents tossed the grenade toward the troops.

Peralta received the Navy Cross for his actions, but his supporters — including Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who also served as a Marine officer in Fallujah during the Iraq War — say he deserves the Medal of Honor.
read more here

If you believe the DOD then ask yourself one question on this. Why would they have given him the Navy Cross for "falling" on a grenade or having it land near him?
Iraq veteran battles for fallen Marine to be honored

Comrades say Marine heroism tale of Iraq veteran was untrue

Sgt. Rafael Peralta will not receive Medal of Honor for saving lives

Did Sgt. Rafael Peralta's actions deserve MOH or not?

Video of Sgt. Rafael Peralta pulling grenade under his body being reviewed for Medal of Honor

Standoffs with veterans should not happen

UPDATE Add this to the rest

Iraq War vet suffering from PTSD arrested in Troutdale shooting, police say
The Oregonian
By Lynne Terry
February 28, 2014


Troutdale police have arrested an Iraq War vet who shot himself in the foot early Friday.

They said the incident happened about 6:20 a.m. at a residence in the 1400 block of Southeast Chapman Street. They said Derick Morgan, 30, a vet suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, whipped out a gun in front of his wife and pointed it at his head, threatening to shoot himself.
read more here

Standoffs with veterans should not happen
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 27, 2014

In South Carolina a police officer shot a Vietnam veteran after a traffic stop. Why? He was reaching for his cane. He's disabled. In San Diego another Vietnam veteran, reportedly suicidal, was shot and killed. In Pennsylvania a SWAT standoff with another veteran ended differently. The veteran was taken into custody.

What makes all of these stories worse is they all happened this week.

Earlier in February in San Diego: A retired Navy petty officer who was shot by a San Diego policeman after raising a military assault rifle in his direction was sentenced Tuesday to probation and ordered to continue counseling and treatment for mental health issues, including a form of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. A report about a Marine in Chicago, a veteran had his "final firefight was on his suburban street 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Chicago, and the enemy was local police. When it ended, he'd traded 17 years in uniform for 16 years behind bars."

Last month a Gulf War veteran was taken into custody in Corpus Christi. In December a Kentucky National Guardsman was arrested and charged in January.

As police increasingly face off with veterans from many different wars, it is clear that these situations should have never happened.

Police officers face split second decisions facing off with veterans in crisis. While some do end peacefully the outcome is never cut and dry. In one state, the veteran is taken to the VA for help but in other states they are put on trial, if they are not killed during the standoff.

Last week I was speaking to a police officer asking him some questions about what they do in situations like the above. He told me they are trained and retrained to know when to call in Crisis Teams. They are training on new tactical weapons that will not kill the veteran.

A veteran in that much of a crisis situation should never happen but as there seem to be more and more, there needs to be a country wide approach to help the police officers take care of the veterans as well as protect other officers and the public until this country does what they need to do to take care of all veterans!

Vietnam Veterans of America: Coast Guard wrongfully discharged hundreds

Veterans group: Coast Guard wrongly discharged members
The Associated Press
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Published: February 27, 2014

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The U.S. Coast Guard routinely violates its procedures and regulations intended to protect service members from erroneous discharges for personality or adjustment disorders, a veterans group and Yale Law School students alleged Thursday.

Vietnam Veterans of America released a report based on an analysis by the students who looked at a random sample of 265 discharges for the disorders over a 12-year period ending Sept. 30, 2012. Of those, the students found 255 failed to comply with Coast Guard regulations in some way.

The violations can lead to veterans being denied benefits and stigma in finding work, the report says.

"We are disappointed to see that so many members of our Coast Guard have been illegally discharged and denied their rights," said Tom Berger, executive director of VVA's Veterans Health Council. "We are hopeful that this report will spark action to correct this injustice."

Jordan St. John, deputy chief of public affairs for the Coast Guard, said the Coast Guard hadn't seen the report and couldn't comment.
read more here