Griper News: Army Suicides Up

Suicides among active-duty soldiers rose to 115 last year, a 13 percent increase over the previous year, say top Army officials.
And the suicide rate of 18.8 per 100,000 was the highest rate since 1980, when records were first kept. Still, that rate was lower than the comparable age group in the general population, which was 19.5 per 100,000.
The overall increase in numbers is troubling to Army officials, who are grappling with how to respond. They are offering more training to soldiers, sergeants and chaplains to help them spot the warning signs that a soldier is considering suicide.

I've been on this issue since last August and this problem's been around a lot longer than that. In August, I wrote:

The problem has been ongoing since 2003, for chrissake, and since the problem was first identified, it's gotten much, much worse. Veterans and their families deserve better. Suicides, even when they're so clearly a result of war, are not honored by the military. They receive no hero's funeral. There's more than one type of collateral damage.

President Bush is constantly asking us to pray for the troops -- this is what passes for some sort of solution. Call it faith-based suicide prevention. And all the husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, children, friends, and communities who wake up one day to a huge unpatchable hole in their lives, I guess we're supposed to pray for them too. That's the fix. Prayer is pretty much all the president has to offer. And all he seems interested in offering.

It'd be nice if there were some damned progress here.