Ft. Hood suicides... 22 in 2010, 242 total for Army in 2010,,,, wtf?

[Soral]

The Fort Hood mark is a new record for the post and contributed to the Army’s worst year for suicides. There was, however, a sign of hope in the grim tally. Slightly fewer active-duty soldiers died by their own hand compared with 2009. But there was bad news, too: The number of suicides in the National Guard and Army Reserve rose sharply.

The Army’s vice chief of staff, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, told the San Antonio Express-News that suicides at or near Fort Hood have increased as more soldiers have returned from combat.

Fort Hood’s 22 confirmed suicides, meanwhile, doubled its 2009 mark and was eight more than Fort Bragg, N.C., which had the second-largest tally.

And the Fort Hood mark could grow since some deaths haven’t been resolved. Others will remain mysteries, like that of Sgt. Bradley Dale Penman, 34, of Punxsutawney, Pa. Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin of Killeen said that Penman’s body, found last summer, was so decomposed no cause of death could be determined.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/Hood-Army-suicides-hit-record-mark-966320.php

[NYC_SKP]

1. 22 at one base, active duty, sounds about right. Among all US veterans, it's 18/day.

The only friend I had who served in Iraq, Mike S., shot himself in the head. :cry:

I posted this some time ago, I don't imagine things are any less grim today.

(April 21, 2008)

On Monday, CBS News showed the e-mail to Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who chairs the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

"This is disgraceful. This is a crime against our nation, our nation's veterans," Filner told CBS News. "They do not want to come to grips with the reality, with the truth."

And that's not all.

Last November when CBS News exposed an epidemic of more than 6,200 suicides in 2005 among those who had served in the military, Katz attacked our report.

"Their number is not, in fact, an accurate reflection of the rate," he said last November.

But it turns out they were, as Katz admitted in this e-mail, just three days later.

He wrote: there "are about 18 suicides per day among America's 25 million veterans."

That works out to about 6,570 per year, which Katz admits in the same e-mail, "is supported by the CBS numbers."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/21/cbsnews_investigates/main4032921.shtml

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3725301#3725695

[NightWatcher]

2. Well, Ft Hood is the largest active Army base and a staging area for deployment to the warS

Sounds like a deadly mix.