A CBS News investigation uncovered a suicide rate for veterans (a person who has served in the armed forces) of twice that of other Americans.
CBS and, alarmingly, not the armed forces or US Government found that veterans were more than twice as likely to die of suicide in 2005 than non-vets. CBS particularly highlighted veterans aged 20 – 24, those who had served during the war on terror, had a suicide rate estimated as between two and four times higher than the same population of civilians. CBS’ report tells that the suicide rate in the US for non-veterans is 8.3 per 100,000, and the rate for veterans was uncovered as between 22.9 and 31.9 per 100,000.
The data is devastating, in 2005, for example, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. As CBS notes: that’s 120 each and every week in that year.
Consider all of the bereaved, downcast, forlorn, heavyhearted, grieving, melancholic, mournful, sombre, sorrowful families, friends, and friends of friends of veterans who died by suicide.
So sad.