Suicides in Iraq, Questions at Home

Washington Post ^ | 2.18.04

[ambrose]

Suicides in Iraq, Questions at Home Pentagon Tight-Lipped as Self-Inflicted Deaths Mount in Military

By Theola Labbé Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, February 19, 2004; Page A01

LUFKIN, Tex. -- Two-year-old Jada Suell tumbled out of the car and ran ahead of everyone -- her grandmother, her mother, her cousins and her 4-year-old sister, Jakayla -- toward the grave of Joseph Dewayne Suell.

"Dada," said the little girl. In the Sunday afternoon quiet of Cedar Grove cemetery, her toddler voice reverberated like a shout.

"Yes, we're going to Daddy's grave," her grandmother Rena Mathis said reassuringly.

[ambrose]

omplete Document

Helplessness Amid the Horror of Haiti May Have Provoked GI Suicides:[FINAL Edition] Tod Robberson. The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext). Washington, D.C.: Oct 21, 1994. pg. a.29

Dateline: PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct. 20 Section: A SECTION ISSN/ISBN: 01908286 Text Word Count 1013

Abstract (Article Summary)

Nobody knows exactly why three U.S. servicemen have killed themselves during the month-old deployment of 19,000 troops here, but a team of military psychiatrists, social workers and behavioral scientists say they are trying to determine if scenes like those described by [Anthony Paquin] could be adding to the normal stress experienced by troops in similar situations.

Some soldiers, such as a group of military policemen ...

[hotpotato]

So they are trotting out this story again. Suicide statistics indicate that the age group for suicides among soldiers in Iraq is actually about half the number of suicides among civilians of the same age group here at home. Maybe the Washington Post thinks it can hammer Bush's numbers lower by repeating this already heavily reported story.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

We used to have a couple of suicides a year on a base of around 2000 people here in the states. I guess that means we lost the Cold War, by their reasoning.

[joesnuffy]

This is part and parcel to the divorce rate in our nation..and single parent families with children out of wedlock...the effect of war on the emotional stability of young people raised in 'normal' families can be difficult enough..but place those who didn't have the essential parental relationships growing up...and the likelihood of tragedy is greatly increased ..children raised without fathers are in greater danger ...imo

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation"
George Washington

[Happy2BMe]

I agree with you.

But the Army is handling anybody who comes in with suicide tendancies with kid gloves and discharging them ASAP.