America’s military veterans are killing themselves at more than double the rate reported by the government, wiping out the equivalent of a platoon of former troops each day, an extensive study has revealed.
An average of 24 former service members are dying each day by officially declared suicides, 37% more than has been reported by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), according to a study released by a not-for-profit group called America’s War Partnership.
An additional 20 veterans, on average, are dying each day by “self-injury mortality,” such as drug overdoses. Like this more former combat soldiers die at home than on the bloody battlefields abroad left behind.
The VA typically categorizes deaths caused by self-injury as accidental or undetermined, but AWP said such cases involve deliberate actions that prove fatal, in many cases deliberately.
The group’s study, which was done with the assistance of contract researchers at the University of Alabama and Duke University, was based on a deep dive into 2014-2018 data from eight states.
The VA reported an average of 17.7 veteran suicides per day during that period. AWP speculated that the under-counting of veteran suicides likely stemmed from human error and other factors that caused many deaths to be mis-categorized.
The study found that former troops with less than three years of service are at greatest risk of suicide, and those who were demoted during their military career take their own lives at a 56% higher rate than veterans in general.
Each year of additional service reduces the probability of suicide by about 2%.
Among the various service branches, veterans from the Coast Guard have the highest suicide rate, followed by the Marines, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the researchers found.
Rates were about the same across gender and racial categories. Veterans who live with a partner, such as a spouse, are nearly 40% less likely to kill themselves.
A study last year by Brown University found that over four times as many US soldiers and veterans have died by suicide than in combat since America’s “War on Terror” began in September 2001.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2022.
They all commit suicide for the crimes they committed, making them US terrorist war criminals?
The article is quite true I have been in contact with the US Vets association for over 10 years along with other US websites that speak the truth . For many years the US Congress would not pay for invalided Vets hospital treatment only recently have they relented . You should check out also the large number of rapes both on men as well as women , only a few weeks ago the Vets Association tried to get US military Law changed so the the Commanding Officer could be bypassed when complaints are made and ignored BUT guess what ??–… Read more »
Ridiculous attitude as a tool to rape the minds of the ones who are ordered abroad to kill non US citizens without any consent? If they do not participate in this ethnic assassination program, they will end up in a military prison?
The military does care about any of them at all! When anyone is ready to leave the military to go into civilian life, they are supposed to take their last medical examination so if they were found to have incurred lifetime injuries or disabilities while in the military, they would be able to get some financial compensation. Well the military does not give them enough time to do this. The examinations are always scheduled way out after the date of military termination/ ETS ( Expiration Term of Service). They are told they need to extend their service, re-enlist, or just… Read more »
Catch 22 ?