Tonight CBS will air the first of a two-part series on the "hidden epidemic" of military suicides, revealing numbers that CBS calls "stunning." The report examines data on the suicide rate amongst veterans once they return home, which indicates a serious mental health issue — and a hidden mortality rate.
"We first started researching military suicides because it had never been done before," said Armen Keteyian, CBS News' chief investigative correspondent in a statement forwarded by CBS News. "But when all the data was collected, we were astonished. I had no idea how much of an epidemic CBS uncovered. We expect this to be a wake up call."
"At least 120 Americans who served in the U.S. military killed themselves per week in 2005, CBS News learned in a five-month investigation into veteran suicides. That's 6,256 veteran suicides in one year, in 45 states."
The policies of George Bush seemed dedicated to the murder of our military members.
He sends them into harms way. If they survive the first tour of duty they know they will be asked to go back again, and if they survive they go again, and again, and again. It is almost like the only way for a soldier to end his fear of being rotated through Iraq or Afghanistan again is to just take his own life before the enemy can do it.
But nobody pays any attention to the man, or woman, who simply cannot take the stress of wondering when their number is up. But these soldiers are casualties of war just as surely as the platoon sergeant who meets his end by an IED or snipers bullet.
And for those who do not die in Iraq or take their own lives, what of them? Are they still whole? Did they come back in one piece? Even if they are not physically wounded, are their minds untouched by the experience? They may be the most heartrending casualties of all.
Do you remember the Marlboro soldier?
The legacy of George Bush does not fall on historians to determine. We can do it right now. He has destroyed our country's reputation, bankrupted our nation, destroyed our military, and that may not even be the worst of it.
this was so sad and is sad ....heartbreaking....
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