Spring Break
Mental health of U.S. soldiers needs to be addressed
Gail Cole
Issue date: 5/20/09 Section: Forum
There is something happening to American service members, something that is overlooked but desperately needs attention and action.
As Americans, we are well aware of the numbers surrounding the so-called War on Terror. A total of 4,981 U.S. service members have died since 2001 - 4,296 in Iraq and 685 in Afghanistan. Over 30,000 have been wounded in Iraq alone.
In 2009 alone, 75 have died in Iraq and 55 have died in Afghanistan, totaling 130.
But there are also numbers that are not as well known.
From January through April of this year, 91 U.S. Army soldiers committed suicide on top of the 140 from last year, according to Salon.com. In addition to these deaths, 41 Marines committed suicide in 2008, according to the Marine Corps Times.
It is a major problem when in a given year almost as many soldiers commit suicide as die while serving their country.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is affecting nearly one in five soldiers who have served in Iraq, and while suicide is an extreme effect of this disorder, we have recently seen how stress can have other negative results for veterans and soldiers.
Last week in Iraq, a U.S. Army electronics technician killed five fellow service members at a counseling facility on an American military base in Baghdad. At the time of the shooting, this soldier was at the rank of Sergeant and was referred to counseling by his commander and ordered to have his weapon taken away; he was his third tour of duty in Iraq after spending time in Bosnia and Kosovo earlier in his career.
He is now charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
We, reading the news in our homes while thousands of miles away from Iraq, don't know what this man encountered, and we don't know what set him off, but what we do know is that five people were killed and one's life changed forever.
I am not in the military. I have never been to basic training (or boot camp), have never worn fatigues, have never been screamed at by a drill sergeant. Nor do I ever plan to. I will hopefully never know what it is like to be in combat.
As Americans, we are well aware of the numbers surrounding the so-called War on Terror. A total of 4,981 U.S. service members have died since 2001 - 4,296 in Iraq and 685 in Afghanistan. Over 30,000 have been wounded in Iraq alone.
In 2009 alone, 75 have died in Iraq and 55 have died in Afghanistan, totaling 130.
But there are also numbers that are not as well known.
From January through April of this year, 91 U.S. Army soldiers committed suicide on top of the 140 from last year, according to Salon.com. In addition to these deaths, 41 Marines committed suicide in 2008, according to the Marine Corps Times.
It is a major problem when in a given year almost as many soldiers commit suicide as die while serving their country.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is affecting nearly one in five soldiers who have served in Iraq, and while suicide is an extreme effect of this disorder, we have recently seen how stress can have other negative results for veterans and soldiers.
Last week in Iraq, a U.S. Army electronics technician killed five fellow service members at a counseling facility on an American military base in Baghdad. At the time of the shooting, this soldier was at the rank of Sergeant and was referred to counseling by his commander and ordered to have his weapon taken away; he was his third tour of duty in Iraq after spending time in Bosnia and Kosovo earlier in his career.
He is now charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
We, reading the news in our homes while thousands of miles away from Iraq, don't know what this man encountered, and we don't know what set him off, but what we do know is that five people were killed and one's life changed forever.
I am not in the military. I have never been to basic training (or boot camp), have never worn fatigues, have never been screamed at by a drill sergeant. Nor do I ever plan to. I will hopefully never know what it is like to be in combat.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.