[ Because in order to kill other people for a living
(or maybe even for a college education)
– you first have to have someone help you to dehumanise others and someone to help you de-individualise yourself
This sets you up for all kinds of life problems – later on down the track. ]
The U.S. Army, along with the National Guard and Army Reserves, averaged a suicide a day in June,
making what already was a bad year even worse.
Thirty-two soldiers, including 11 in the Guard and Reserve, killed themselves last month,
a rate of suicide not seen since the Vietnam War.
Seven of the suicides took place in Iraq or Afghanistan.
During the first six months of 2010,
65 members of the Guard and Reserve took their own lives,
compared with 42 for the same period in 2009.
Although the strain of multiple deployments is often cited as a major cause in the rise in military suicides,
this is only occasionally a factor in National Guard and Reserves cases.
Some observers feel that the military suffers from a drastic shortage of mental health professionals.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
National Guard and Reserve Suicide Rates Climbing (by David Goldstein, McClatchy Newspapers)
Marine Corps Tries to Cope with Rising Suicide Rate (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Pentagon Begins Massive Suicide Study (by Jamie Mei Cheng, AllGov)
More U.S. Soldiers This Year Have Died of Suicide than in Combat (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)