SCREAM! 120 US war veteran suicides a week

donsu

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:06 PM
Original message

SCREAM! 120 US war veteran suicides a week

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22762457-5005961,00.html

THE US military is experiencing a "suicide epidemic" with veterans killing themselves at the rate of 120 a week, according to an investigation by US television network CBS.

At least 6256 US veterans committed suicide in 2005 - an average of 17 a day - the network reported, with veterans overall more than twice as likely to take their own lives as the rest of the general population.

While the suicide rate among the general population was 8.9 per 100,000, the level among veterans was between 18.7 and 20.8 per 100,000.
-snip-
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america deserves to fail

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Tyler Durden

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:13 PM
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1. AAh they were probably "Phony Soldiers"...

You're right though. Even John Adams said:

"Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide."
John Adams, Letter, April 15, 1814

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Fierce

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:16 PM
Response to Original message

2. "Veterans," not "war veterans!"

SCREAM!

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Ezlivin

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:20 PM
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3. Suck it up - they volunteered for it

That's just 120 fewer veterans to put a load on our underfunded VA health care system.

The rest of us disabled veterans have firefights in the hallways and engage in wheelchair jousting to thin the rest of the herd.

Just another great day to be a hero-veteran in America! Thank god the corporations and the wealthy got the tax breaks we fought for....

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eFriendly

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:23 PM
Response to Original message

4. This is absolutely tragic!

I believe our government quietly rejoices in these suicides by veterans, because the more vets who commit suicide is one less veteran the government is responsible for their care. I have felt this way ever since I was a teenager, watching how our government treated the Vietnam and even WWII veterans.

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hootinholler

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:28 PM
Response to Original message

5. Needs many many more recs. n/t

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tuckessee

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:33 PM
Response to Original message

6. In order to put this in perspective....

...we must know the overall suicide rate for males and specifically for males 20-24.

The 2002 stats I found in Wikipedia show suicide rates per 100,000 for males is 17.6: females 4.1; overall 11.0

The rates are roughly the same for males (17.6 in Wiki) and for veterans (18.7 in the Herald Sun) article. What's the big deal?

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Giant Robot

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:40 PM
Response to Reply #6

7. Here's a link for 2004 data

I thought they had 2005 up, but I must be confused.

http://www.suicidology.org/associations/1045/files/2004datapgv1.pdf

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magellan

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Thu Nov-15-07 01:06 PM
Response to Reply #6

10. Uh, no. The article makes the comparison

snip...

So CBS News did an investigation - asking all 50 states for their suicide data, based on death records, for veterans and non-veterans, dating back to 1995. Forty-five states sent what turned out to be a mountain of information.

And what it revealed was stunning.

In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.

Dr. Steve Rathbun is the acting head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department at the University of Georgia. CBS News asked him to run a detailed analysis of the raw numbers that we obtained from state authorities for 2004 and 2005.

It found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets. (Veterans committed suicide at the rate of between 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000, compared to other Americans, who did so at the rate of 8.9 per 100,000.)

One age group stood out. Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror. They had the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same age. (The suicide rate for non-veterans is 8.3 per 100,000, while the rate for veterans was found to be between 22.9 and 31.9 per 100,000.)

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Zodiak

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Thu Nov-15-07 01:56 PM
Response to Reply #6

13. Because veterans are being included with males in the Wiki

You have to gets the vets out of the wiki statistic for it to have meaning, and when you do, it is around 8-9 people per 100,000.

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Gregorian

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:46 PM
Response to Original message

8. End the madness now.

This is horrible. They had to have their war. And they know damn well what the consequences would be. So sad.

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sam sarrha

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Thu Nov-15-07 12:57 PM
Response to Original message

9. While Chaney's punk ass wet brain alcoholic AWOL Draft dodging Deserter has photo ops again and

Edited on Thu Nov-15-07 12:58 PM by sam sarrha

again,using our troops, who cant criticize him, to promote his malignant illegal war for profit..to make the richest of the stinking rich richer..

......:cry: i got to go for a walk.

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The Backlash Cometh

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Thu Nov-15-07 01:49 PM
Response to Original message

11. !

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donsu

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Thu Nov-15-07 01:50 PM
Response to Original message

12. kicking back to pg. 1

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