How many?

I just read an article on yahoo.com about how homecomings for US troops require counseling so my question is this.

How many US troops have committed suicide in Iraq and how many have come back only to kill their spouses and children?

I've read stories but I don't know the exact numbers.

I have not heard of people commiting suicide. Where did you see this?

I always recieved "counseling" when returning to the
US from overseas. It was part of processing out of the unit.

"how many have come back only to kill their spouses and children?"

Hmmmm.... what if I asked you if you still beat your mother every evening about 30 times with a baseball bat?

"I've read stories but I don't know the exact numbers."

/\/ight\/\/ing

I was in Balad. There was a kid from an artillery unit (I was communications) that we were supporting that killed himself. He took a bunch of pills because his wife was cheating on him. I guess he wanted to get saved because he told his boss that he just took a bunch of pills, but they couldn't get him to the hospital on time. His command lied about the suicide, said it was a heart attack, so his wife and kid could get the SGLI, life insurance. I came back in September, was there since the beginning, and kids were going nuts all the time. My unit had to take the bolts from some rifles, because these kids were cracking and unpredictable. Funny thing about homecommings, the wounded get flown in to the states and the press is not allowed to cover it. I guess Bush doesn't want America to see a bunch of amputees. A friend of mine was at the VA hostipal (she is a young woman who developed cancer) and told me a story of a woman without any legs chasing her kid down the hall. Just dragging her torso. Breaks your heart.

There is also a coffin ban, news crews are not allowed to film the coffins arriving on the base anymore either, I guess seeing the coffins and the wounded are not a part of war that the Bush administration wants to be seen. Meanwhile his administration keeps on cutting benefits for veterans.

For fex sake ! - the governments dont care about the poor squaddies who get killed and maimed. All they think of is their political aims. I've heard of too many people going to back civvy street only to be treated like utter crap by the MOD. (The 'Gulf War vets' come to mind)

We have people out there who go out to protect their country and what do they get from the government afterwards - they get treated like #e.

Its not just now that this happens - it happened to my grandfather after WW2. Fecking Hitler did less damage to him than the council bastards in the UK. He was involved in the battle of Alamein. The foxhole he was in was hit and his two mates were killed. He was seriously wounded and invalided back to blightly only to find that the council were demanding back-rates on his shop. It wasn't actually open at the time because he was in North Africa fighting Rommel, while the council wankers were sitting back in Britain whinging and doing feck all else. He ended losing the lot because of those bastards. I trust that they are burning in hell by now.

It makes me wonder why they bother.

Usually forward deployed units received counseling and de-breifing before returning to the U.S. Although I'm sure there has been cases of people doing this, but it just hasn't reached the media yet. I don't see why anyone would in the first place, you know? Where's the logic? I came back OK, I don't see why anyone else wouldn't.

Mr. M