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Courtesy of Rebecca Morrison
Ian Morrison and Rebecca Morrison, taken at Fort Hood in Texas the day he deployed to Iraq as an Army Apache helicopter pilot. He flew 70 missions in Iraq. In March this year, Ian Morrison committed suicide in Texas at age 26.
The call she placed, and the advice she received, didn’t simply allow Rebecca Morrison to survive one of her worst days. The words she heard, she said, saved her life.
Before a Fort Hood memorial service to honor her husband – an Army chopper pilot who ended his life – Morrison grabbed a scrap of paper from her nightstand, read the scrawled number, and dialed up the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). In that pitch-black moment, she needed answers to two desperate questions. On the other end, Kim Ruocco listened. Seven years earlier, Ruocco had lost her husband, a Marine major, to suicide.
“I can’t even breathe,” Morrison began, through sobs, from her Texas home. “How do you breathe?”
“It will just come,” Ruocco replied from the TAPS office in Arlington, Va.
“How can I ever be happy again?”
“It doesn’t get less painful,” Ruocco told her. “After time, it just gets ... less present.”
Six months later, Morrison, 25, is breathing. She’s also teaching third graders, running, riding her horse, and — Thursday — remembering Ian on what would have been his 27th birthday. She's also speaking at anti-suicide events and launching a suicide support group near Dallas — all of it, she added, because she placed that call. But with one U.S. service member committing suicide every 19 hours, it’s the breathing that Morrison mentions first when asked how TAPS helped her most.
“Once you lose someone to suicide, you are so prone to suicide yourself. I got to that point. If they hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here,” she said. “Every widow I’ve talked to, every family member, has felt that way. You just want to be with that person more than anything. I mean, he was my husband. They’re saving the lives of the survivors.”
The suicide crisis inside the military has, indeed, injected fresh urgency into the larger mission of TAPS, a peer-based, emotional support group for families who have lost active-duty military members overseas or at home. It also has “stretched” the nonprofit’s budget and 53-member staff, said Bonnie Carroll, who founded TAPS in 1994 after her husband, Brigadier General Tom Carroll, was killed in a plane crash.
Courtesy of Bonnie Carroll
Bonnie Carroll founded TAPS in 1994, two years after her Army husband, Tom, was killed in a plane crash. When Rebecca Morrison called TAPS last April, Bonnie answered the phone.
“We are the alumni association for those who have died in the military. There is no one else that does this,” Carroll said. “Whether it’s a motorcycle crash or a death in combat or a suicide, for the family, it’s the same knock on the door, the same folded flag.
“We’re seeing an increase in the death rate, in the casualty rate, but from the public’s perception: ‘Oh, the war is over and everybody’s home and they’re safe.’ Well, in a skewed way it almost seems like you’re safer in a deployed environment. You’re less likely to die there of a hostile attack than you are to die here.”
Some increasingly sad statistics: During the first nine months of this year, 247 Army troops — including active-duty soldiers, National Guard members and reservists, have committed suicide, according to a Department of Defense report last week. (The Army is the only military branch that issues monthly press statements on suicides). In 2012, the Army suicide rate has climbed over last year, despite myriad anti-suicide initiatives, conferences and medical studies as well as prevention promises and get-help pleas both inside and outside the branch. Meanwhile, within the Navy, Marines and Air Force, another 126 service members combined have taken their lives this year, reports ArmyTimes.
As America transitions from a decade of war toward a hopeful peace, TAPS has rarely been busier. The organization, which staffs a 24-hour hotline, is fielding, on average, 111 calls per day, Carroll said. From November 2011 through this past September, TAPS began working with 4,138 new survivors.
In the military community, the TAPS team is considered credible, Carroll said, because each member has lived that moment.
“The traumatic death of an immediate loved one will knock you out and sometimes kill you. You really need to deal with it on a very deep and serious level,” Carroll said. “And the absolute best support — what we’re really finding with our suicide survivors — is that unless they’re talking with another mom found her son after he died by suicide, they’re just not going to talk.”
As its staff now connects, on average, with 376 new survivors per day, TAPS is feeling the urgent need “to definitely do more,” Carroll said.
But on an already-tight budget, seeking extra dollars to meet the crisis requires a delicate, high wire walk worthy of a Wallenda: A nonprofit must project fiscal stability while also demonstrating its growing obligation.
“After 9/11, why did people continue to give to the Red Cross even though it was funded in the billions? It’s because people give to organizations that are financially sound. Which is counterintuitive. You’d think they’d give to the ones that have a more desperate need for the funding,” Carroll said. “So it’s a really tough balance there. We are financially sound. We take every penny and put it toward appropriate programs. We have wonderful partners. But we are constantly searching to meet that need.”
TAPS spends $450,000 per month, Carroll said. In addition to its paid staff and the 24-hour hotline they manage, the group publishes a quarterly magazine and stages dozens of survivor events around the country, including a conference for military-suicide survivors earlier this month in San Diego.
Funding is funneled to the nonprofit from neighborhood bake sales on to large checks from corporate partners, including foundations affiliated with Prudential, New York Life and Hasbro.
“There is no membership — no fees, no dues,” Carroll said. “The cost of admission is the sacrifice of a loved one. And the care they receive is forever and always.”
TAPS further squeezes its budget by leveraging a 1,000-plus legion of volunteers — survivors who are, themselves, at least two years beyond their own loss and trained in how to support the newly bereaved. That network is the bittersweet result of the mounting losses on the home front: as more service members die after returning from war, more of their survivors are volunteering with TAPS.
“That is the holy grail of why this works. It’s a concept of: when you help another person, you continue your own healing,” Carroll said.
Courtesy of Bonnie Carroll
Bonnie and Tom Carroll. They met in Alaska in 1988 during a massive attempt to save three gray whales trapped beneath pack ice.
This is the sacred notion that inspired Carroll to build TAPS. While working for the Reagan White House, she met her Army husband, Tom, on a massive spread of pack ice in Barrow, Alaska, in 1988 amid a globally watched effort — dubbed “Operation Breakthrough” — to free three trapped gray whales. That rescue inspired the 2012 film "Big Miracle."
Tom, portrayed by Dermot Mulroney, and Bonnie, portrayed by Vinessa Shaw, later married. Their wedding — complete with a cake topped by icing-laden whale replicas — was re-enacted in the film. (Their characters had different names in the movie — a choice made by the filmmakers because “Big Miracle” is not a documentary).
“That’s Tom, that’s us. He’s that guy, and I’m that White House girl,” Carroll said.
Four years after the whale rescue, Tom Carroll died along with eight other soldiers in an Army C-12 plane crash in Alaska.
“When Tom was killed, that was my family. Now I have this extraordinary family of tens of thousands of incredible Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation’s freedom,” Bonnie Carroll said. “We’re a family healing together."
Courtesy of Rebecca Morrison
Last weekend, Rebecca Morrison ran the Army Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C. to help raise money and awareness for TAPS - and as part of her own healing following the loss of her husband.
Now, Rebecca Morrison wants to join that family.
With a degree in counseling and the life experience of a survivor, she’s hoping to eventually work with TAPS.
In the meantime, she already has become closely aligned with the nonprofit. On Oct. 21, she ran in the Army Ten Miler — which started and finished at the Pentagon — and helped raise money for TAPS. In June, she spoke as part of a TAPS survivor panel during the annual Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention Conference in Washington, D.C. And in July, Kim Ruocco of TAPS asked Morison to share her raw story for a Time magazine cover piece on military suicides titled “One A Day.”
“For me to feel better about this, I have to help other people,” Morrison said.
“Bonnie, Kim and everybody made that possible. Through speaking out, I have been able to heal.”
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Now I cannot help but ask, why would 1 service member be committing suicide every 19 hours? I simply do not believe that a service member is dying of suicide every 19 hours. Something is definitely going on here, not sure what but this is suspect of some greater evil.
I think your wrong, and you should not be doubting wives, and the press.
JRS12 - Just stop and think for ONE second about what service members and their families go through. You can't even begin to understand the amount of stress. As a marine wife, I can't even understand the stress that my husband is under.
Huh? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqNZekTvzBU
JRS-
Suicide rates amongst deployed troops have continued to rise. There is something of greater evil going on here. It's called war. We've been in endless @!$%#ing wars and deployments for 11 years. What you see, do, and feel in combat will injure the soundest of minds.
We should have seen this coming. You can only send someone into combat so many times before they crack. I just wonder how the support for veterans holds up over the next few years. Let's hope we learned something from what the Vietnam vets went through, and we don't repeat that shameful treatment.
War is hell. It should always be a last resort.
I thought this was about the other TAPS.
Very right "JRS12" I would wager a majority of these people suffered PTSD (post traumatic stress) or TBI ( traumatic brain injury) and that they have been handed 4 drugs to cover the symptoms. The problem that each of the 4 drugs have an FDA " black box warning for increased tendency toward suicide".... Not one or two or three of them, but all four of them. Now, why would the military push such a toxic mess on these young people? I figure there are a lot of soldiers still alive but seriously damaged from this mess in the Middle East. I figure it's very expensive for the Pentagon to have to pay out big $$$ to take care of them. I figure, they should have just laid down and died on the battle field like soldiers used to do. A cardboard box and a flag is a lot less expensive than 40 or 50 years of taking care of them....... Those Generals might be worried they will have to give up their retirement perks maybe.... Aw shucks, they would have died anyway!!!
God Bless America!!! How low can you go???
Recently, I queried an Army Community Services office over a simple matter and got a two month-old automated response and it was another day before the individual answered me. There's much indifference to go around and this feel-good story just isn't the reality for desperate kids.
Statistics are exactly that - statistics, and they can be skewed to support just about any supposition no matter how valid. The fact of the matter is that many military units when balanced by age, race, gender, and demographics vary no differently in suicides per hundred thousand than cities of similar size and composition. With that said, the suicide rate within the military is often quoted at approx. 27 per 100,000, which is about twice the national average. This however is a bogus number, for it takes into account reservists, national guard, and even academy cadets that have NEVER been deployed. The same thing was done with Vietnam Vets after their war. Why would someone intentionally skew the data? Reasons are many, but it usually boils down to money or a genuine need to help people-whether they need the help or not. The same thing applies with PTSD - the data is only as good as the sample population. There have been literally hundreds of studies looking at suicides in the military in the last 40 years, and what is constant, are the primary variables leading to suicide that are often discovered in the mandatory psychological autopsy that is done post-suicide. Unrealistic training that does not prepare the soldier for the rigors of war, long and frequent separations from family, infidelity or dissolution of relationships (the famous "Dear John" syndrome, excessive financial stresses, extended family stress, leaders that ignore signs and symptoms and think they are mental health professionals, and last, but the factor most often applied - mental illness or psycho-emotional trauma of some sort secondary to combat. People kill themselves because there are stresses in their life that they cannot cope with and when they have inadequate resources to help them get back into a healthy state of balance. The military has not cornered the market on this, and by trying to label all our war vets as PTSD'd basket cases with high suicide potential is absurd and a great disservice to our men and women in uniform. They may have PTSD, but that does not mean the majority cannot go on to live healthy, viable, and productive lives WITHOUT being helped. THIS is what most vets do, and the percentage of vets actually needing long-term intensive therapy or mental health care is very small when compared to the total population. You wouldn't realize this by the plethora of articles and media coverage which strives to imply that they are ALL screwed up. This really gives a potential employer comfort! Oh, and before the trolls start slamming me, I had over 25 years as a military behavioral health officer setting up suicide prevention programs,publishing research, and directing combat stress control support systems in 3 wars.
@JP-345944 Hello. I will bullet point to see if my reply can be shortened
1.) Statistics that are manipulated too much lose 'power', become non-publishable in peer-reviewed journals etc. and the notion that good scientific data can be skewed to meet anyone's needs is, while a popular belief, largely untrue.
2.) There is tons of data separating active duty from RS, in theater vs. out-of-theater, sociademographic data, etc. Analysis of suicide rates does not have to lump together ALL DoD personnel (Although, that data is also available) as you suggest and in fact it often does not. You must have seen numerous studies to this effect given what your job was.
3a.) you are simply incorrect regarding suicides per 100k are the same in the military as they are in the general population. In the U.S., the suicide rate hovers around 11.3 per 100k annually. (CDC, NIMH, etc.). The rate of suicide among active duty surpassed the national suicide rate for the first time in 2007 and in 2011; CY reports 22.9 per 100k (not the 27 per 100k you mention). Irrespective the number for active duty personnel is almost double the national average (AFSB, tri-care data, DoD etc.).
3b.) If you are suggesting that virtually ALL the private and governmental agencies would intentionally skew statistical data and misrepresent the suicide rate - Well, frankly, that is absurd. It would be a conspiracy of epic proportions and something that could never be kept quiet. Alternatively, perhaps you have concerns that all these agencies (private and public) are engaging in some form of 'group think'...given the amount of compartmentalization of many agencies this is also beyond reason.
4.) I can agree with you, in part, regarding biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors playing a role in what is referred to (for the sake of discussion) as 'resiliency'). There are now efforts to better address resiliency factors but this is a road fraught with problems - under reporting by troops, etc. Additionally, it is unlikely that ANY amount of training can completely mitigate pre-existing conditions or those with compromised resiliency. I might add even those with strong resiliency commit suicide. Unfortunately, the American people will largely not like the research that comes of this. War is, indeed, hell, and no matter what efforts we make to mitigate the risk factors the reality remains the same. It is also, in part, why I took the time to reply to your comments. It is incomplete, at times inaccurate, and a disservice to suggest the data is inaccurate (when it is not) or that the suicide rates are equal with the civy population.
5.) Deployment rates are correlated with suicide rates and while difficult to discern your position the suggestion that secondary symptoms "mental illness or psycho-emotional trauma of some sort" may account for suicides well that seems clear but given the multiple diagnosis that those diagnosed with PTSD suffer that is not surprising and does not invalidate (nor distort) the numbers of suicides reported by the various agencies. If you are trying to suggest that soldiers suffer those 'ailments' just like the general population do/does...that's true. However, that only serves to amplify and draw attention to the alarming numbers we are seeing now.
6.) I do not believe that anyone is " trying to label all our war vets as PTSD'd basket cases with high suicide potential is absurd " . People are not doing that...civilians or otherwise and if/when, someone would suggest that a reasonable person would quickly conclude that was nonsense. I think what has professionals alarmed is the growing number of successful attempts and the number of attempts.
I appreciate your service with the troops and applaud those efforts but I wanted to clarify a few points that do matter.
Our government is great at sending soldiers into war, but they fail when it comes to treating those soldiers after they return. Our government just recently admitted that Agent Orange causes health problems, finally when most of those soldiers are in their 60's and 70's.
In 20 years of military service, I knew 9 people who committed suicide. 5 of those people I knew committed suicided between 2001 - 2005. I'm not sure how many people in civilian life know people who have committed suicide, but I doubt if many have known this amount of people who've done so.
Guns are used for suicide over 50% of the time in the USA (2007), about 45 people per day, mostly white males over 40... see http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/04/21/weekinreview/20070422_MARSH_GRAPHIC.html
Japan which has almost ZERO guns, has the highest suicide rate in the world almost 100 per day. This is over twice the suicide rate of the USA & UK/100,000. In 2009, the number of suicides among men rose 641 to 23,472 (with those age 40–69 accounting for 40.8% of the total). Suicide was the leading cause of death among men age 20–44.[4][5] Currently Japan is experiencing another increase in suicides - due to NO JOBS...
The UK is now the most VIOLENT society in the World (2007), surpassing the USA & South Africa. But they banned guns for almost everyone, two decades ago... see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5712573/UK-is-violent-crime-capital-of-Europe.html
While Kennesaw, GA has required every household to own & maintain a gun for almost 30+years. Has almost ZERO gun deaths and NO gun related suicides, during this period. Also their crime rates are well below the US averages... see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1818862/posts
IMO - Suicides are commited for many reasons, but lack of viable jobs and ECONOMICS is the leading cause...
BTY - 26+USMC
It's about the only thing they're great at, and it's sending OTHER people's kids off to war, NOT theirs.
Hell, our government won't admit that Iraq and Afghanistan are complete disasters, and WON'T admit to the health problems facing Iraq vets - how do you expect them to provide our vets with the care they need?
JRS - are you saying you think there's a consipiracy? Come now, be rational. There are 6 military branches (Army, Navy, AirForce, Marines, NationalGuard, CoastGuard) certainly if numbers from all the branches are calculated than 19 per hour is not an unreasonable number. --
And that low life scumbag Ted Turner said he thinks it's a good thing they are committing suicide because they have been trained to kill. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because he was married to that biotch Jane Fonda- they should both commit suicide and put us out of the misery of their existance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2223260/Ted-Turner-CNN-founder-says-good-U-S-soldiers-committing-suicide-large-numbers-proves-humans-arent-programmed-kill.html
God Bless the people at TAPS; may they continue to heal themselves and to help others along that pathway.
One wonders why the military brass cannot fathom why so many service members are committing suicide? Could it be that the repeated, extended tours of duty have some part? Or is it something else?
I think it could have a lot to do with the convoluted reasons for the war they're fighting. In past wars their has been a definitive enemy and they were unequivocally evil, and while I don't sympathize with the Taliban by any means, the motivation to fight the wars we are currently fighting are not as definitive as say WWII.
Her loss is very sad.
I believe that redeploying these servicemen and women three times with the factor of fighting in populated cities has caused the high numbers of PTSD and suicides.World War II was a brutal war but men didn't go to combat over and over again.Viet Nam was also brutal and was fought in dense jungles yet men weren't redeployed numerous times.The draft should have remained in place so as not to of had the same people sent back into combat numerous times.It is appalling and disgraceful for a modern society to not utilize technology at our disposal in place of redeploying our service men and women,treating them like collateral damage.
just a cleaning lady,
During WWII people saw multiple re-deployments, people were landed in Normandy, then sent to Italy and later to North Africa...
Most people during WWII, simply went there and stayed for the duration/years...
Boots on the Ground Win and keep the PEACE, bombs and chemicals just delay the deployment...
The dropping of TWO Atomic bombs did not end the Japan War early. It was the Russians crossing into China's territory that finally convinced the Emperor/POLITICIANS...
Opps
The people I personnel knew from WWII:
My father - stayed the duration from the Normandy invasion through North Africa and was scheduled to go to Japan...
A USMC Aviator (Pacific) - returned wounded...
A USA Col (Normandy to Germany) - returned wounded...
Many of their friends DIED and never returned...
This is why the OFFICIAL numbers are so low. Average US Troop WWII - 33+months active duty & 16+months deployed...
JRS12@ if there are any stats about suicide with Vietnam Vets, finsd them. You may get an understanding. Usually, the driving force is PTSD. My generation of combat vets was either Drugs, prison, or Suicide. Now, thankful to Presidnt Obama for his policies there are inpatient VA programs that help Veterans to learn to cope with the PTSD issues. Call the VA hotline and you may get some answers about to help you to become better informed.
LV-
I agree with everything in your post, other than
Nice try, but doesn't fly. He is as guilty as those before him of sending troops into harms way. The least they can do is give some lip service and a little money to the VA.
AtlasWillShrug,
How is Obama's 'Just War' 2009, working out for you???
Bush & the UK turned the 'Nation Building' over to the UN & 52+countries, during Dec 2001...
Obama placed his 'Hand Picked' General in charge and the FIRED him. After the General stated that Obama's POLITICAL War could not be won. How many more were fired/relieved - 3+...
Almost 1,500+US Troops killed and $2+Trillion spent, to assassinate ONE MAN...
Even when BOTH Clinton & George Bush refused to Assassinate him. Maybe they read the history books & Sun Tzu, while Obama was watching Art Videos..
Nothing has changed and the Terrorist have spread across the Middle East and into Africa...
Dear Rebecca and all the Members of TAPS and all our Service Men and Women our prayers of strength and support are with you. God bless you for the love you keep giving to honor those loved ones which you have sacraficed to keep us safe. Your Loss is great but your Love is greater. Death seems so final, yet it is just another stage of life. Keep your faith in God alive and those who are so dearly missed close to your hearts. It's a true blessing the work that TAPS does for the families of our military and armed forces.
May you smile brightly as your loved ones look on from Heaven. For one day we shall all be reunited in God's Kingdom.
God Bless
But with one U.S. service member committing suicide every 19 hours,
It's a hard stat to swallow, but like LV said PTSD is the culprit and right now it's rampant.
Look at how many theaters we've been tending. In addition, most of these guys and gals that are serving are really young. I think back to my military days and how young I was, fixing B52s at age 18. Wow
My heart goes out to these soldiers.
You've been reported.
God bless the people at TAPS and the survivors of the poor Service Member. Shame, on the US Military for turning their back on our own US Military.
Bill, they aren't turning their backs. The problem is institutionalized denial and those who are seriously trying to get a handle on it...can't. It's as simple as that. The can't get a handle on how to control the situation.
Agreed, Ol Doc. I knew someone who came back from Iraq with ptsd and turned to drugs and alcohol. There are groups that the military promote support and want to get the soldiers/ex-soldiers to join, but they can't force them. The guy totally refused to go to any of these meetings or to talk to a psychiatrist. He didn't want any help. His family tried an intervention, but he didn't care.
In comparison, I am dating someone in the military who has ptsd. He went to a psychiatrist in the past and it greatly helped him. He also pushed (along with other men) for a psychiatrist to be at their base (they don't have one because I am told it is a small base compared to the one in/by Tokyo). They got a psychiatrist just recently there and he is going to see them.
Actually, the US Military did not turn their backs on our own military. The military is doing what it can with limited personnel.
The civilians of the USA have turned their backs on the military by not stepping forward to shoulder some of the burden. An indication of this load is that some troops are going back for a fourth or even a fifth tour. Your comment, and many others like it show the great disconnect the civilian society of America has of the military.
spesetfides,
Ask the US Troops that served in Iraq I about the $10,000+USD they did not RECEIVE...
Because Bush Sr used the money to pay for military equipment destroyed during the conflict. Kuwait pays USA $16,5 billion for their help... see http://kuwaitairport.com/kuwait-history.html
England and France troops received the money directly. I personnely saw this happen, in Saudi..
Bush stated he did not want the US Military to feel like Mercenaries and Kuwait would not pay the women deployed...
Then, you can ask about the solid gold campain Medal, that everyones was suspose to receive... Still waiting...
Never voted for a Bush and NEVER WILL...
Checkmate-983933
What you are describing is not the least bit surprising. The mindset in the Military is "suck it up and move out". As difficult as many people have in understanding that attitude (labeled as macho and other derogatory terms) a certain amount of "suck it up and move out" is necessary for survival in combat. And regardless of what the movies would have you believe; the point is to survive, for your buddies to survive and for the bad guys not to.
The biggest problem is moving from "BATTLEMIND" to a non-survival intensive garrison mode and the accompanying decrease in required focus. Add to that increased deployments, decreased external support systems (families breaking up), unemployment for Reservists and NG...and there you are.
Sometimes it's easier to self medicate than to ask for help.
1. The problem with the suicide issue in the military is not a lack of personnel. The problem is even more complex than in the civilian world. To begin with, there has been no effective program identified. There are pieces of programs that show some promise but only pieces. The best piece of a program I've seen is "battle buddies" looking out for each other. It doesn't work nearly as well among NG and Reserves because they aren't spending as much time together. The biggest hurtle to overcome is the attitude. It's similar to the attitude that tolerates rape in the military..."if I don't admit it's a problem...it isn't". Commanders are not being held accountable. Also the two extremes 1) suck it up and 2) touchy- feely don't seem to work. Situational awareness, dust-off (immediate referral to mental health), after-action (critique, positive reinforcement, lessons learned), and train up (follow-up care) seem to be the most effective group of actions at the present. All of these when properly incorporated are no-brainers for the military. you just have to explain it correctly...with command emphysis.
2. Civilians have not turned their backs. After 911 the Red Cross lines were packed with civilians. Recruiting offices were packed with civilians. The problem is that the Administration at the time squandered all that patriotism by telling everyone "we'll take care of it, go back to the mall". I just attended a new Criminal Justice Program inauguration in my county specifically for Veterans. The Civilians didn't have to do it, the judges didn't have to donate their time setting it up...they just did because it was the right thing to do. Compare that with when I got out from my first tour in 1973...now that was turning their backs!
You can believe what you like but the statistic is accurate and has been for at least a year now. In addition to that the suicide rate among veterans is 1 veteran every 80 minutes nationwide.
LOL i thought it was Ghosthunters TAPS
So did I!!
One a day is way too much but I fully believe it is a correct number. PTSD is the reason and the treatment for it is lousy. From the experience my sons have had, the treatment at the San Antonio, Tx VA is much better then the treatment while on active duty. At least at Ft Polk. One of my sons with this issue is on active duty at Ft Polk and is having a terrible time getting decent counciling. He is so sad and lonely. Yes, knows some of the things to do about it but the PTSD prevents him from actually doing them. I am very concerned that he will become one of these statistics.
Karen,
I hope he finds good help.
Karen' ask your son to go on line and type in H B O T . It speaks of the work being done by Doctor Paul Harch to treat the psychiatric and physical part of your son's injury. In the process, his body will be equally repaired.
Dr Harch is with Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans. There is a Marine from Houston, named Casey, who was treated for what has to be the most severe case of TBI / PTSD I've ever seen. His recovery has been remarkable. You should be able to read about it on the website. best of luck to your whole family. Your son's injury is much more than psychiatric. He's had a huge physiological injury as well.
I know Bonnie Carroll personally. I met her through TAPS although I am not a widow or grieving family member. She is one of the most committed and caring person I have ever met. She works tirelessly and earnestly to ease the burdens of family members of the fallen, regardless of how their deaths occurred. TAPS does absolutely wonderful things for grieving family members. Please support this worthy organization. It exists only through private support, no government money whatsoever.
As a Vietnam veteran I can understand what goes on in the minds of theses men and women. I have been on the brink of suicide more than once. I am now 65 and the nightmares and all that follows never goes away--you hang on by a thread and try to cope. for you folks at TAPS--please don't stop what you are doing. I believe in God and that has been my stronghold. I don't understand all things---I just try to accept. May God's blessings fall on you for what you do. Now I'll go somewhere and cry for these men/women and their families.
God Bless these Angels that reach out in these times of need...May we all be so blessed in our own time as it comes to each of us in different ways...Live your very best life and do not be afraid to give those in need or to walk away from those that scoff...Keep doing right because all of us are just spirits having a human experience...
I guess killing you self takes care of all of your problems.
@Bama-836911 Either you're trolling or completely ignorant of the subject at hand. Rather than assume you're ignorant I'll just relegate your words to that of a troll.
American Plutocracy I do believe you took my post wrong or you just wanted to be a smart ass one of the other. It was posted to make some one think about what they were doing and hope they changed their mind.
@bama Well, thank you. That clarifies the 'idiot' part.
Ah yes, "I guess killing you self takes care of all of your problems." was indeed an attempt at inducing one to "think" and a hope they would "change their mind". Indeed because what one needs is sarcasm, irony, or some odd paradoxical intent - that isn't even paradoxical...
It's a rhetorical question i'm about to ask but do you think, in general, someone who takes their own life is thinking rationally?
Bama -
Your motives may have been pure but 10 years as an Army Medic and 11 as a Paramedic have taught me that satire NEVER dissuades a suicidal person. Sincerity and sometimes brutal honesty occasionally will, at least temporarily; but not sarcasm.
Amerecan Plutocary One thing is for sure 'someone that kills them self as a way to deal with life is just making it hard on their family. I know that because a lady at work has just gone threw that and it has left her is a mess.Some time I think people that commit suicide do not think about what it will do to others.Believe me any of us could get that phone call any day.
@Bama. My last reply. You simply miss the larger point. As such, it's difficult to try and point out (as Ol_Doc tried) the error of your ways. So instead of a dialogue i'll just tell you. The approach you think you are taking is completely the wrong one and far more harm than good. Whether in word or in print, in person or via phone it's simply a horrible approach. Why? Well, that's the part you don't understand and are unwilling to consider. Instead you wish to cling desperately to your idiotic comment that began this exchange. I'd not give two craps about your ignorance but when it could possibly effect others (via the written word or in person or who knows where...) it commanded a reply.
You anecdotal story, while touching, and warranted the compassion of others, is really no justification for what you have expressed previously as a means of trying to be helpful. I suspect that you are angry at some level - perhaps because of the pain your close 'lady' co-worker has experienced or perhaps from somewhere else, maybe just simple ignorance, your anger is manifest in a tawdry frustration. Irrespective of where it's from - it is clouding your judgment; an incorrect judgement you feel compelled to defend. Good luck to you and thank you for the exchange.
My brother in law served 5 tours as a trauma surgeon--on one tour when he returned his hair was completely white. He didn't want to talk about everything he witnessed and what he did to save life and limb. He is in the reserves and over 60 years old. He came home finally for good in 2011. Thank God. Bless these people that have the strength to help.
Bless these men and women who went into conflict and war for us. Don't ever think they have not suffered---there was tremendous stress--bombs hidden everywhere even on children needing help and no one could be trusted 24/7--try living like that for months and months and months--God Bless them all.
America needs to change with our returning vets. John Daly hit it on a nail interviewing two returning vets that served as nurses dealing with trauma and so much blood shed of the wounded. On returning, they found out they are not qualified to even be a school nurse. Can you imagine what this does to a vet? The military shows films of 135 career fields,saying they convert to civilian life. It's just a blasted lie to our soldiers.
How would you feel returning from a war zone,feeling your skills will get you that job in your career field? Finding out American doors are closed to you on employment that you have skills in? You feel lied to, worthless, lost and depressed. A country you fought for and the country turns their backs to them. It's not a good feeling.
Deb-323690 We have all been lied to. The big sin are the lies that all these young men and women were given in order to "Shanghai" them.
I imagine some of the suicides will be from the enlistment officers who looked those kids in the face and took to spinning a fantasy around their innocent minds.
Hell will be too good for them.
In closing, this past month. 20 republicans voted against help for our vets.
et220
Recruiters don't send American Service Members to war. The military doesn't send Service Members to war. Civilian politicians send American Service Members to war. The military is a tool, a hammer. You own the best hammer money can buy. In fact, you own the best hammer that has ever existed. If you hire a contractor and loan him your great hammer and he screws up your house do you break the hammer or fire the contractor...you elect the contractor, are you going to break the hammer?
It has been my experience that most Recruiters (at least since OEF/OIF) don't bother to lie to recruits. I mean seriously, are you going to convince some kid that if he joins the Army as an enlisted soldier he won't be deployed? He would have to have an ASVAB score of 10 to believe that one.
Deb - Unfortunately you way too accurate with your last comment. The bill filibustered by the Senate minority contained language to require reciprocity in licensing between some military and civilian licensed or certified skills.
Can someone please school me? I mean I guess I need help.
What I don't understand is why our Dad's came back from WWII and were heroes to all of us.
The present generation chooses to feel sorry for themselves and commit suicide because they just couldn't deal with it. So essentially it's a feel good moment for the enemy because those they didn't get, get themselves. Allah Akbar.
I'm having a problem understanding this. It's every Marines dream to engage in battle. It's a lock and load moment and exhilarating. I wanted vengeance some 30 years ago after Beirut.
I don't accept this media analysis of our soldiers coming home broken because were pussies and don't know how it is to fight like our Dads did.
Is there something wrong with my thinking in this? That we'd be incapable of fighting WWII again and winning? That we'd rather kill ourselves than win a war? How is my thinking so starkly in contrast with social media?
Yes, there is something wrong with your thinking. Soldiers in WWII spent far far less time in theater. The less exposure to traumatic events the less likely one will face functional impairment.
Additionally, often soldiers in WWII who did have PTSD lived a private hell - keeping their symptoms hidden from all but the closest to them and often trying to mask those symptoms via substance use and abuse etc.
Lastly, it is not "every Marines dream to engage in battle" - That is absurd. Have you been in combat? Only a mindless idiot things everyone feels it is a 'lock and load' moment. Far more often people are scared ^@^less but their training and those around them save them from freezing up etc.
Oh, lets be honest, the reason your 'thinking' is so different than that of social media (what an odd distinction) is because you're not thinking. Quite ironically, you speak in hyperbole, in rhetoric, and in the language of the media itself. Your personal failures to comprehend anothers suffering need look only as far as the mirror for answers.
33 months was the average length of active-duty by U.S. military personnel during WWII. 16 months was the average time U.S. personnel served overseas. The War lasted from 1939 to 1945...
When the Troops arrived home after WWII;
1. They had WON the WAR and brought peace to Europe & East Asia...
2. They were celebrated as HEROs even decades after WWII. My father was one of the oldest surviving WWII Troops in VA...
3. They received many employment advantages and easy access to home loans/school educations...
4. Many returned and used their knowledge gained to open new industries; ski, golf, and build a modern USA...
The Troops returning TODAY;
1. Have won NOTHING and the Terrorist are just as deadly...
2. The average US Citizens hate the US Government leaches; Military & Civil Servants...
3. Very Limited &/or NO JOBS, limited education/health benefits, and house loans out of reach for the average person...
4. They are facing a RIFT and another BRAC, just like the 1990s. When many were FORCED OUT, even after they had preformed every-thing the US Government had asked of them...
5. The ACTIVATED Reservist are returning to find their civilian jobs, no longer exist. The US Gov is doing little to enforce the LAW that protects their JOBS...
26+USMC
RIFT is a massive multiplayer roll playing game...RIF (Reduction in Force) is no game, but it is necessary and has happened to the military at the end of every major conflict in our history. The Nation can not afford to be on a constant war footing. That's what killed the Soviet Union (that and Afghanistan).
Ol_Doc,
Were you one of those Doctors that received the FREE College training from the US Government and then REFUSED to serve when called up???
Maybe the USA will smarten-up and socialize its Medical services. Placing the US Doctors on the Gov dole, like the UK, Thailand, and many other countries. While also expanding the medical services that Nurses can preform...
That is cost savings, I would back...
What's your problem puke? First of all I'm not a doctor, I was an Army Medic for 10 years and a Paramedic for another 10 years. No I did not get FREE College training from the US Government... I paid for it with 20 years of "Meritorious Service" to this Country. What have you done for this country beyond being a smartA$$.
26+years USMC/retired, NC certified EMT, PADI rescue diver, volunteer fireman for years, and adopted & paid for college 3+children, and raised another 3+of my own...
BTY - I live in a country with socalized medicine, it is much better that the US medical services and FREE. The Doctors, Nurses, and other medical providers, receive their training for FREE...
I just don't understand. Why fight the battle, survive the war, then come back home and kill yourself? I mean why not do everyone the favor of, if you feel like killing yourself - take a few of them out with you?
I'll really never understand suicide. It hurts so many around you. Is that what you want to do? You'd rather hurt your loved ones than the enemy of them?
Can we ever measure up to our Fathers? My Dad fought the japs. He knew where his heart was. He knew what he had to git done. Why should I consider any less of myself fighting some punk arabs?
Has anyone figured out just how Obama's weak military policies are destroying the minds of the troops. Do they actually know that Obama doesn't have their back? Is the commander-in-chief an incompetent boob? How did Obama creates this environment?
LOL. It's not a partisan political issue. People like yourself only serve to weaken a country when they attempt to make partisan that which is not...
Let me see if I can answer your questions one at a time.
1. Obama's "weak" military policies have resulted in the deaths of more terrorist leaders than any previous president. Now you can dispute the validity of his actions but you can't argue with the results. I am curious as to your allegation that the President's policies are "destroying the minds of the troops". Do you have a theory...or did you just pull that out of your a$$? And by the way, beyond providing troops with better body armor and less frequent deployments, what exactly are the changes in military policy the current administration changed from the last administration?
2. When the last Administration was asked "why do we have to rummage through junk yards to up-armor our Humvees?" They answered "You go to war with the Army you have not the Army you might want". This Administration has done more for soldiers, their families and veterans in general in 4 years then the last 4 administrations. So who doesn't have the troop's backs? Don't take my word for it...that's why we have "google".
3. And you are an idiot.
4. Obama didn't create this environment. GW Bush didn't even create this environment, although starting two wars and sending the rest of the American public to the mall didn't help. We instituted an "all volunteer" military. Now don't get me wrong, our all volunteer force is absolutely second to none...but you can only send them to war so many times before they self-destruct. That was one safeguard provided by the draft. Also, we're less likely to go to war if more than 1% of the population suffers for it.
5. By the way, did i mention you are an idiot?
I could give a crap less about Obama. Politics doesn't enter into this. How can this generations, and prospective heroes behave in a way that is unbecoming an American Male?
I have the utmost hero worship and respect of any member of today's military that have fought in this war. I wanted to. It didn't happen - we had grenada and that was it. After my term was up, the first gulf war started. I wanted Iran, badly. They still have payback coming.
I joined to fight the arabs. Those that joined after me I felt did as well. Any Marine worth his salt does. And we PREFERRED BAYONETS. So I am just mystified at these reports of PTSD and suicides. Guys - this is why we joined. To defend my family, my country, our people.
I am just not getting it I guess.
Mental help is something else you aren't getting
My God, an apache helicopter pilot. This is the guy we count on to save our collective asses in battle. He is our savior. WHY?
None of this makes any sense. Hell nothing in the last 30 years has made any sense. The 1980's were the last good years of America.
THERodney
You know what THERodney, you deserve an answer. As a retired career Army Senior NCO, and an Army Medic I'll try to answer your question.
1. You missed the biggies. If you had served in Vietnam or OEF/OIF for multiple deployments the answer would be clear ... Rambo is a movie character. If you remember Rambo One...even Rambo suffered PTSD. Number One...no on goes to war without changing. It may be a good change, it may be a bad change but everyone changes.
2. Service Members (SMs) who are married with children at the time of their first deployment have about a 20-30% chance to still be married at the end of their second deployment. That percentage drops significantly by the end of each deployment. The overall diverse rate in the Armed Forces is approximately 80-90%.
3. Due to a limited number of SMs available for deployment the US military, National Guard and Reserve troops are being utilized for war fighting at about the same rate as the active component. With a similar divorce rate and an extremely high unemployment rate, their periods between deployments can be isolated, unemployed, experiencing self medication (substance abuse) while awaiting another deployment to go somewhere that makes sense.
4. Again due to "personnel management", soldiers are re-deployed who would never have been re-deployed in previous wars. Soldiers are being seriously medicated in the field (anti-depressants, pain meds, sleep aids, etc) then drink a Red Bull so they can run their mission outside the wire. When they come home they wait a stupid amount of time to see someone with VA Mental Health, the Army places them in the WTB and they sit there and rot waiting for a Med Board so the can have their PEB and be Medically Discharged. The problem is that the Med Boards are about 2 years backlogged and the units want to clear their books, so they start logging written counseling statements on the soldiers for crap like late for first formation when the soldier is so medicated he/she can't function. After a few they can be brought up on an Article 15 and Admin Discharged. Sometimes screwing them out of VA Benefits including medical.
That's only part of the reasons things are a little different now, I could go on for pages. I hope that helps you understand a little. And relatively few experience all of this crap, but then relatively few commit suicide.
it's amazing how these people are ripping off the TAPS initials from the best & actual TAPS, The Alantic Paranormal Society, from the hit tv show Ghost Hunters.
I just glad there is a number for people to call . a good net work if you will . to help ease the pain
Along with that most miserable liberals that recently and publicly cheered military suicides; Ted Turner. Wasn't he married to Jane Fonda of 'we ain't Fonda Jane fame'? I believe he was. Misery loves company.