Suicide is not painless

I've written about this before on other blogs. Ilona Meagher's PTSD Combat blog and her subsequent book, 'Moving a Nation to Care', were among the notable earlier bloggers to take on PTSD and the suicide rate in our military.

NPR's two significant investigative report series by Daniel Zwerdling and Tom Bowen (1, 2) aired over the last few years, focused on PTSD, suicide and how it was being addressed or not being addressed in the military. Scroll to the bottom of each of the NPR links for links to all the related stories in each of the series and followup reporting.

All that just illustrates that this report by MSNBC on the latest stats in which the number of suicides exceeded the number of casualties due to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, should not be a surprise to anyone who's been paying attention.

This is a complete version of the MSNBC interview with General Peter Chiarelli, Army Vice Chief of Staff.

Ilona pointed out a blogpost by a vet named Scott Lee who explains what he struggled with in transitioning back to civilian life. It's powerful. Go read.

Then think about the news stories concerning Fort Drum and how the Army pressured the people there to delay or reject returning soldiers' paperwork for disability benefits. And of course, the stories from the Washington Post series on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the complete fiasco there.

I expect a lot from the new administration but it's just as important that the current military command hierarchy steps up to the plate. This is not about proving how tough you are. It's about taking care of our soldiers and vets who fight with their minds and hearts as well as with their bodies in a war zone that has no front, a zone in which they are always on alert.