Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Perry J. Greenbaum 🇨🇦 🦜's avatar

Wikipedia writes about U.S. military veterans and their high rates of suicide:

"A 2021 study by Brown University estimated that 30,177 veterans of post-9/11 conflicts had died by suicide. When compared to the 7,057 personnel killed in the conflicts, at least four times as many veterans died by suicide than personnel were killed during the post-9/11 conflicts.[10]

"According to a 2022 report by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, nearly half of U.S. military service members have seriously considered suicide since joining the Armed Forces.[11]"

Now, perhaps the problem is war itself; perhaps it is not normal or healthy for one human being to kill another human being for no reason other than he or she is another nationality or religion or political affiliation or for whatever reasons humans engage in war, such as the needless taking of land, resources or to increase the profits of the War Industry.

All of this and the many other reasons I have not cited combine to make being a military veteran an unhealthy choice.

Expand full comment
TanzPunk's avatar

Thank you for this. My partner is a combat veteran who suffers from PTSD. I cringe when I hear the hollow "thank you for your service" quip tossed casually in her face. I rank it up there with saying "everything happens for a reason" to someone deeply suffering a loss. However well meaning, it's still flippant, casual cruelty.

Expand full comment
4 more comments...

No posts