Congress Wants Data on Vet Suicides

Congress Wants Data on Vet Suicides
Associated Press | December 13, 2007

WASHINGTON - The parents of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide and members of Congress on Dec. 12 questioned why there's not a comprehensive tracking system of suicide among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Mike Bowman, of Forreston, Ill., said his son, Spc. Timothy Bowman, 23, is a member of the "unknown fallen" not counted in statistics. His son, a member of the Illinois National Guard, took his own life in 2005 eight months after returning from war. Bowman said he considers his son a "KBA" - killed because of action.

"If the veteran suicide rate is not classified as an epidemic that needs immediate and drastic attention, then the American fighting soldier needs someone in Washington who thinks it is," Bowman said.

Bowman was one of several witnesses who testified before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on the issue.

Rep. Bob Filner, the committee chairman, questioned why the comprehensive tracking wasn't already being done.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,158158,00.html

And there's a bit of a problem in the tracking aspect, too.

The kids who get out and kill themselves after they've dropped of the ready reserve rolls will probably not be counted.

In service suicides are tracked, but it's a trick to get data from those who are long gone.