Nearly 300 Iraq war veterans have committed suicide - Thousands more tried but failed

[NNN0LHI]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/southeastkingcountynews/2003947641_seop14.html

Iraq veterans deserve more than post-combat negligence

By Stacy Bannerman

Special to The Times

WHEN the appalling conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were made public, accompanied by grim photos of moldy walls, crumbling ceilings and dirty, bug-infested rooms, it sparked a national outcry and immediate action. Unfortunately, it has been comparatively quiet about the nearly 300 Iraq war veterans who have committed suicide, and thousands more who have attempted it.

America cannot afford the price of failing to care for veterans with combat-related mental-health problems. The systemic breakdown in mental-health care is so profound that military families and veterans groups have filed lawsuits against the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth have filed a class-action suit on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The suit claims there are as many as "800,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans said to suffer or risk developing PTSD." The groups charge the VA with collaborating with the Pentagon to avoid paying PTSD benefits.

Joyce and Kevin Lucey of Belchertown, Mass., are suing the VA for negligence, contending that their son Jeffrey, a Marine Reservist, hanged himself after the military refused to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yet, in conversations about the dire state of care for deployment-related trauma, the question I am most often asked is some variation of "Why should I care?"

[babylonsister]

1. Rec'd with sadness. I wish this was the headline on the msm; maybe

Americans would realize what dire straits these people are in.

[bdamomma]

3. these soldiers who are wounded or are in extreme deteriorating

mental health seem to be forgotten by alot of people, our sick media doesn't say shit about their mental state, it should be publicized more, these thugs in the WH did their homework well, keeping everything secret from the American people, disgusting.

[unhappycamper]

2. Actually, you're off by an order of magnitude.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=4615

~snip~

VA estimates more than 5,000 veterans commit suicide each year, according to Harkin’s office.

[Rambis]

5. Correct

I talked to a vet back in 2004 and he said he knew of 500 at that time alone. He also told me a lot of them were guards in and around a prison there. Yep that one!

[GliderGuider]

4. If you know anyone who wants to stay out of Iraq

Get them in touch with these guys: www.resisters.ca.

I heard an old Vietnam vet talk about getting Iraq vets out of the States who don't want to go back for another tour. He's not advocating desertion so much as he's helping soldiers who can see no way out but to kill themselves.