Army - "Kill yourself. Save us the paperwork"

The amount of suicides has been increasing, seems when troops have asked for help, they are given handfuls powerful drugs "to take care of their problems".

link to article:Kill yourself. Save us the paperwork

Both men were 21. Both served long combat tours in Iraq. Both overdosed on drugs. Both had sought help from the Army, and the Army had failed them. Sadly, however, their stories are far from unique.

Late last month, the Army announced data showing the highest suicide rate among soldiers in three decades. At least 128 soldiers committed suicide in 2008. Another 15 deaths are still under investigation as potential suicides. And suicide is only one manifestation of the mental health ills coming home with U.S. troops. Four years after Salon first exposed problems with healthcare at Walter Reed Army Medical Center that ultimately became a national scandal, the situation, at least at some Army posts, has only deteriorated. For the "Coming Home" series, in which today's two entries are the second installment, Salon put together a sample of 25 cases of suicide, prescription drug overdoses or murder involving Fort Carson soldiers since 2004. A close study of 10 of those cases exposed a pattern of avoidable deaths, meaning that a suicide or murder might well have been prevented had the Army better handled the predictable and well-known symptoms of combat stress. (Read the introduction to the "Coming Home" series here.) As Alderman's death shows, part of the problem is an apparent tendency of Army doctors to substitute large doses of prescription medication for adequate mental healthcare.

A former roommate of Alderman's who fought beside him in Iraq took Alderman to his first sergeant to get him mental healthcare. "I escorted Ryan to the first sergeant's office," Alderman's buddy told Salon. According to the friend, the first sergeant "blew [Alderman] off" and said, "Everybody sees what you saw" in Iraq. At one point, alleged the friend, another sergeant told Alderman, "I wish you would just go ahead and kill yourself. It would save us a lot of paperwork." "The Army treated Ryan as if he was the problem," said the friend, "not that he had a problem

Why doesn't any of this surprise me? I have been losing all my thoughts and confidence in the American Govt. but what also sickens me..........
is the govt. offcials saying "We support our troops!"...............
Yet the truth is, THEY DO NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS!

If they did, then those arriving back home, would NOT BE HOMELESS - they would have the healthcare and mental healthcare they need!

He describes "traumatic events" in Iraq, including the death of friends from roadside bombs and a friendly-fire incident in which U.S. Marines fired on his post. "Upon returning from Iraq, seeking help was discouraged," Alderman wrote in his sworn statement. "So I self medicated and started cutting myself to relief (sic) the pain." (Self-mutilation is a relatively common phenomenon among people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It literally cuts through the emotional numbness, allowing the PTSD sufferer to feel something.)

"I still have nightmares about the war and Staff Sgt. Hager," Alderman wrote in his sworn statement, referring to the bloody death of Staff Sgt. Joshua Hager by roadside bomb on Feb. 23, 2007, in Ramadi. Friends say Alderman pulled Hager's dismembered corpse from the wreckage of a vehicle. "I am seeking help but I feel like I'm not being treated right. I mean mental help. I struggle every day with it."

Alderman dated the sworn statement Oct. 13, 2008. He died seven days later.

But they DO NOT GET THOSE THINGS! These are men and women, who in my opinion have given up their lives for their belief in the American govt and dream, yet they are used and abused by the same govt. they are trying to protect!

Yet, another nail in the coffin besides everything else going on... of the United States of America!

TAKE CARE OF OUR TROOPS!!! This should NOT BE HAPPENING!!

It is a long article, but please read it..................... question is..... how many MORE suicides have actually happened, that are hidden?




[edit on 12-2-2009 by questioningall]

It's always the same unfortunately.

The politicians use the armed forces to further their agendas - usually the agendas of powerful corporate and lobbyist groups that have nothing to do with protecting your country or protecting Americans (or British for that matter).

Those same politicians use the armed forces for photo ops to show how much they supposedly care but this is nothing more than sickening political posturing and campaigning for themselves. Truth is they don't give a damn about those they send off to die and get maimed for their paymasters.

We hear the same "patriotic" BS about the troops signing up to fight for their country but the reality is they are nothing more than fodder for the elites and powerful. How many times in the last few decades have US troops been used to repel invaders of the US? Isn't that what they are meant for?

Smedley Butler put it into perspective.

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."

As it was back then, so it is now.

[edit on 12-2-2009 by Britguy]

The barons of industry have no borders.

Those who serve them often do so without realizing how broad their benefactors' control of the situation is.

Human resources are not people. They are things. And one can find many of the elite who have publicly, or at least openly, characterized the issues of soldiering as 'trivialities' not worth consideration or weight in their agendas.