12,000 Veterans attempt suicide last year.
 

Wow... I didn't realize it was that high :-/

Holy fucking shit! We should pull out now!

lol, I like how when the anchorman brought the "camera" to the gay reporter, it was behind a TV. (seems the broadcast was fake, althought the info on it is probably true)

Woah that's messed up

Just think of how high it is going to be in just a couple of years.

x2


The actual numbers of American soldiers dead from anything contributed to the war (including suicides successfull and not) is over like 50,000 last time I heard a tally. Pretty much bullshit if you ask me, the shit they see over there, not to mention that guys AND girls are NOT faithful when their patriotic soldier goes overseas to fight in the name of their country and they cometo back to find a cheater.

The whole situation is fucked.

Army's largest base reeling from four apparent suicides in one weekend

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/29/tex...ex.html?hpt=T1

Four soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas died over the week. In all four cases, it appears the soldiers, all decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, took their own lives, according to Christopher Haug, a Fort Hood spokesman.

If confirmed as suicides, it would be on top of 14 other suicides on the base this year. Base officials called a news conference for Wednesday afternoon to discuss the problem of suicides at the huge base in central Texas.

"Every one of these is tragic," said Maj. Gen. William Grimsley, the post commander. "It's personally and professionally frustrating as a leader."

Grimsley did not announce any major action or response during the news conference. "I don't think there is a simple answer," he said.

The recent spate of incidents, began Friday Sept. 24 when the body of Pvt. Antonio E. Heath, 24, of Warren, New York, was found in Temple, Texas, the victim of a gunshot wound. Heath was deployed to Iraq for most of 2009 and earned a number of medals including the Army Commendation Medal.

The next day, Master Sgt. Baldemar Gonzales, 39, of Victoria, Texas was found dead in his residence on Fort Hood. During his service he had fought in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. During that time he earned a Bronze Star, a Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, an Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters as well as numerous other decorations.

The Fort Hood public affairs office says he was assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigade, which indicates he had been wounded during a deployment.

That same day the body of Sgt. Timothy Ryan Rinella, 29, of Chester, Virginia, was found in his home in Copperas Cove, just outside of Fort Hood. He had an "apparent gunshot wound," according to information released by Fort Hood.

Rinella served three tours of duty in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan.

And then on Sunday, Sgt. Michael F. Franklin and his wife, Jessie, were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds in their home on the post. The case is being investigated as a murder-suicide. They were the parents of a 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. Franklin served two tours of duty in Iraq in just the past four years, earning an Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters and several other decorations.

The entire U.S, military has been focused for years on trying to stop or reduce suicides among service members. At times some have speculated that troops wouldn't seek help for emotional or mental problems because it would stigmatize them in the eyes of their comrades in arms and their commanders.

But that didn't always appear to be the case at Fort Hood this past weekend.

"Early indications are, in at least two of the cases, and I can't speak definitively about the others, a couple had been in counseling for certain things," Grimsley said.

He said the pace of Army operations, caused in large part by fighting two wars simultaneously over many years, may be one "stresser" leading to more suicides.

"We are certainly a busier force as we've ever been in my career, you put those and the other stressors of life, with finances and relationships and everything else, it's a tough life. It is a tough life," he said.

It's yet more violence for Fort Hood, which was the site of the worst shooting on an American military base in decades. On November 5 of last year, a gunman opened fire in a building on the post, killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others. Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist was shot and paralyzed by police who responded to the incident and is facing murder charges in the case.

Grimsley doesn't see a link between the the suicides and the shooting last year. "I don't draw a correlation, it's clearly in our respective psyches and will be for life. But so are all of the other things that have gone on here."

The first testimony in Hasan's pre-trial hearing is set to start in two weeks.

I was just going to say something about Ft. Hood but it looks like d3v beat us to it. My unit alone lost 2 soldiers recently, one to a car accident (he was in my company) and another to suicide (he was in bravo). Ft. Hood has gone crazy anal, and has ordered a post wide Health and Welfare inspection on everything, vehicles, barracks and homes. Nothing will change though, Ft. Hood blows...

It was Sgt Rinella of B Co. I live in Copperas Cove...

I feel such sympathy for the soldiers not just in Fort Hood, but throughout the states and those that are stationed internationally. It's such a horrible situation they are in. Admit it or not, but a large majority of military soldiers probably didn't have their life going in the right direction which is mainly why the joined the military, as a way out.

And now, they've been put into conditions, been on multiple tours to Afghanistan and Iraq and now they're still asking more from them and the wars aren't necessarily ending but shifting focus. What do people expect? The treatment of our soldiers and servicemen is horrible IMO and things need to change. It's even worse for the Veterans that have put in their blood, sweat and tears and are essentially shunned off to the side once they are not needed anymore. It's disgusting.

They should quit.

I dunno man, the army actually pays pretty handsomely for my college - I'm actually still saving money and I'm not even being too frugal. In my opinion this just seems like a filler topic while news networks can't find anything else interesting on which to report. Also, I know a lot of guys who get out and don't even use their GI bill which is somewhat hard for me to understand. Well I understand it, but I still think it's not the best choice to make. It's a lot of money and you can just go get some BS(I mean bullshit not bachelors of science lol) degree to boost your salary at any job you may find, or just go for an associates while you get your life back on track and get re-acclimated to the civilian world. I mean you could even go get your pilot's license or something of that nature - as long as it's a school of some sort - it does't have to be a college with a campus per se. There are some rules as to how "official" the school has to be so you can't get together with your buddy and say that he's teaching you how to fly and you just draw the GI bill while doing nothing and he signs the paperwork for a cut.

Options:
*Waste time learning the same fucking thing year after year, until they decide you've paid enough attention to go to college. You also have to pay a shit ton, but let's not mention that. Also note that you could have learned these things twice as fast, if our education system wasn't shit - too late though, we've been doing it for too long, can't change it now!

*Go to the army and get it all in exchange for being the governments' little doggy.