Are we as a country doing enough to prevent #Veteran suicides??

2016-04-01T17:43:22-04:00

#VETERAN lives matter!!!
U.S. military suicides remain high for 7th year http://buff.ly/1RCWjbL via @usatoday

U.S. military suicides remain high for 7th year

After nearly doubling, troop suicides have hardly changed from 2009 through 2015.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Apr 1 at 2016 5:47 PM

2016-04-01T17:47:22-04:00

Personally I don't think so. Look at the "Nam vets, and probably some of the Korean vet.

Response by SFC Everett Oliver made Apr 1 at 2016 9:54 PM

2016-04-01T21:54:25-04:00

Tearing the military down in the middle of a war wasn't the smartest thing we ever did.....

Response by SFC Stephen Carden made Apr 1 at 2016 11:32 PM

2016-04-01T23:32:21-04:00

What do you think we should do? I had a friend and former subordinate recently commit suicide. When he worked for me, I had to intervene once at the request of his wife. After that, he seemed to get better and move forward. Over the next several years, he was professionally successful, he made great personal strides in his life, and he showed no outward signs of depression or suicidal tendencies. Then, one day, he surprised everyone, including his wife, and took his own life. Please tell me, what should we have done? What could we have done? At some point, personal responsibility has to play a role here. We can't see into a person's mind, nor can we predict the future. It is popular for everyone to say that we should be doing more, but what else can we do? If a Soldier decides to take his own life, how can we stop him or her? Especially if they don't make it obvious? I refuse to feel like I didn't do enough or that the Army didn't do enough for this person. In the end, it was his decision, and he made it. I did what I could do to stop it, he went through all of the training, and he went through the post-deployment checklist, but he still did it. Life moves on.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 2 at 2016 6:21 PM

2016-04-02T18:21:04-04:00

Veteran suicide has hit my family. But, I don't think it had anything to do with the military.

I honestly don't think most of us can relate to suicide enough to truly understand it let alone do much to prevent it.

I think almost ever case is unique. If one does not share his/her thoughts and feelings it gets so much more difficult.

Response by SPC Nancy Greene made Aug 9 at 2019 7:10 PM

2019-08-09T19:10:13-04:00

As a Retired Therapist and 100% DAV, PTSD is extremely difficult to live with and even harder for others to understand. I also have clinical depression and attempted suicide while on active duty and as a DAV. I find it totally infuriating when I call the Crisis Hotline and am placed on hold for TEN minutes and then the ‘counselor’ who answered my call sounded more depressed than I was. We NEED to do my re for our Veterans!!! We are losing too many good men and women to this feeling of hopelessness. Please call SOMEONE before it is too late!