Dark Hour

[The Straight Story]

Dark Hour
By Katherine McIntire Peters [e-mail] Government Executive October 1, 2010 After nine years of war, the Army is grappling with growing rates of suicide, crime and drug abuse in the ranks.

Army Spec. Joseph Saunders was serving a tour in Iraq when his wife told him she wanted a divorce. He was floored. Pulling guard duty six hours on, six hours off, he had a lot of time to brood about his future. His friends worried about him. Alone and overwhelmed with grief one day, Saunders grabbed his rifle, put it on semiautomatic, placed the barrel under his chin and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Stunned, he went into what he calls "soldier mode" and started disassembling his rifle to find the problem - a missing firing pin. He soon learned that another soldier, fearing Saunders might try to kill himself, had removed the pin.

Saunders is one of thousands of military men and women who have attempted suicide in recent years. In 2009 alone, Army data show at least 1,713 active-duty soldiers, probably more, tried to end their lives; 162 succeeded (include reservists, and the figure rises to 239). Thousands more engage in what the Army terms "high-risk" behavior - drinking excessively, abusing prescription narcotics and illegal drugs - that threatens to spin out of control, rendering soldiers a danger to themselves and those around them.

http://www.govexec.com/features/1010-01/1010-01s2.htm

[geckosfeet]

1. Thanks the deities that one of his buddies knew what was going on and did something.

Hopefully that initiative will trickle up the chain of 'command' and someone with authority will finally understand what is going on.

edit:sp