U.S. Army Stressed After Nearly a Decade of War

reply to post by Expat888


hey there wll i dont understand why you are angry at me i am not a soidier have not had an easy life and understand quite well the worlds position.

you did for tours ina nother illegal war so why did you go back or were u forced too???

as for the 9/11 nightmare your angle makes no sense ?

if im brainwashed you should step back and read what you typed to me it sounds like your paranoid ??

anyways i think war is #ed up and yes governments theatre war to prfit thats what society has done through all history maybe ww2 was different but thats it otherwise they are all the same and not to be confused so to conclude if you dont know dont say all i was saying is i dont feel its cool for people who have never experienced to call a kid a murderer when it could be their own child just tryin to help their country is that so bad?

i still dont think we are having the same converstaion and are on two different topics......

Be Well

www.usatoday.com... wsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29

An increase in suicides among National Guard soldiers largely in states across the Midwest — such as Missouri and Wisconsin — is responsible for a 24% increase in Army suicides last year, the service reported Wednesday.

Missouri and Texas each reported seven suicides among their National Guard troops in 2010, Wisconsin had six, and there were five each in the National Guard units of Minnesota, Ohio, Arizona, California and North Carolina.

Soldiers, both active duty and on inactive status, died by suicide at the rate of 25 per month in 2010, Army figures show.

"All of us are stunned by it, and we wished we knew why," says Army Lt. Col. Jackie Guthrie of the Wisconsin National Guard. "It is especially hard when it's suicide, when it's someone hurting in our ranks."

USA TODAY reported in November that suicides had doubled among National Guard soldiers who were on inactive duty in a year when the Army was seeing a slight decline among active-duty soldier suicides.

The Army released final year-end statistics Wednesday. There were 301 confirmed or suspected soldier suicides in 2010, including those on active duty and reservists or National Guard troops on an inactive status, the Army reported Wednesday. This compares with 242 in 2009.

They're "stunned" by it? Really!?

Ten years of money-sucking, soul-sucking, un-winnable war with nothing to show for it but death and destruction and they're stunned by the despondency in their ranks?

We're polarized. We're broke. We have thousands of mentally and physically scarred veterans and few job prospects for anyone transitioning back into civilian life. We have a generation of children whose families are fractured and struggling and who have only known a nation at war.

The crazy thing is we were never asked to help or sacrifice anything constructive but we ended up sacrificing our future. For nothing.

What have we even gained from this war? Are Iraq and Afghanistan even better off? That's certainly debatable and I guess it depends on who you ask. I doubt Iraqis or Afghans would think so.

Most certainly the United States is not better off. Have we retained our freedoms at home? A trip to the airport will answer that question. Are we safer? I guess, but only due to the Police State that was ushered in during this damned decade. And all the while our economy tanked.

Committed through 2014? I don't think so. In fact, hell no! It's shameful. It's wasteful. It's useless. And, after ten years, this madness has to stop.

When I was in Iraq, one of my best friends was shot in the head about 4 feet away from me and killed instantly. This was the beginning of a mild hour long firefight from which I was awarded a combat action ribbon. Two more of my friends were injured during the fight and got shipped elsewhere.

Near the end of my tour, I lost 4 more good friends when their humvee exploded in our convoy. These were people that I worked with every day. And they were burned alive in front of me.

I've seen men blown up with grenades, shot, even torn apart by a minigun. I've seen piles of bodies and body parts. It is a lot to take in. The images are always in the back of your mind.

So when I was finally shipped home, we were sat down individually with a chaplain. Many of them are certified grief counselors. But I'm pretty sure they are just trying to gauge your stress level.

See, we have this saying in the Navy. The chaplain's collar has that chaplain badge on one side, and that officer rank on the other. So watch what you say.

I'm somewhat certain that this is why the suicide rate is pretty high. You can't really talk to the people you are supposed to be able to talk to. All that anger and sadness gets bottled up inside. Me, I eventually got over it. Others, not so much. We did have 2 suicides shortly after we got back to Japan.

reply to post by allenidaho


I'm so sorry.

What you're saying makes perfect sense though. One has to have full confidence before sharing such deep emotions. I can see how you would feel vulnerable confiding to a chaplain under those circumstances.

Now compound what you are saying by ten years of war and a deep economic downturn and it's easy to see why the suicide rate is so high.

Why people are not taught how bad these things are. I would never join no military, but no wonder these poor lads end up wanting to die to get out or afterwards.

Sick world.

well you guys see a pointless war... man o man if only we could declassify some stuff for ya.. but I can't I used to be a 31 b MP doing convoy sec. out of Camp Taji Iraq. we won the WAR as it was in less than a few hours just like last time.

Problem is its not a war any more.. Wasn't a war since we kicked the Hell out of Sadams forces. Now were nothing more than cops. That's it, Hate to break it to you guys.. This stopped being a war damn near nine and a half years ago.

Want to really know why our soldiers kill them self's? How would you feel.. if you get all this training and it goes no were. you're hands are tied up behind your back. because you don't know who your enemy is. All you see around you is death.

Make no mistake about it the Iraqi people don't really care about Troops on ground any more. They were too busy blowing each other to hell.. and the last few years. Two or three I'd say (I was there) The united states military was caught in the middle of a civil war.

How can you fight when you don't know which side did it? who did it? when it could have been the Iraqi Army Check a half mile back? they blend in How do you fight a faceless enemy? The army knows how to win it. Wining it would cost our souls tho. There is only one way to two ways to win. Kill your self.. or kill all of them.

What soldier can kill all those innocents? people have a gross misunderstanding about the people over there. Really unless you kill them all it won't stop. They put a high price on family yeah that guys brother was a douch bag and killed two soldiers and ten civi's. Than the united states soldiers take that douch out. Now because you have killed their brother, son , Father they have to get Revenge now you have ten that just took the place of the one you took out.

mean while in the U.S there is no family rushing out to take the soldiers place. There is no one there really that understands what we went thru. We come home no one really talks to us. They just give us drugs. I'm not trying to say that I'm better than you. Its just that you weren't there.. How can I talk to some one who hasn't seen their best friends head blown off.. or seen four of their brothers disapear in less than a sec after an E.F.P goes off..

We can't win because winning this war would kill our souls as well as our country.

Originally posted by Reaper2137
What soldier can kill all those innocents? people have a gross misunderstanding about the people over there. Really unless you kill them all it won't stop. They put a high price on family yeah that guys brother was a douch bag and killed two soldiers and ten civi's. Than the united states soldiers take that douch out. Now because you have killed their brother, son , Father they have to get Revenge now you have ten that just took the place of the one you took out.

mean while in the U.S there is no family rushing out to take the soldiers place. There is no one there really that understands what we went thru. We come home no one really talks to us. They just give us drugs. I'm not trying to say that I'm better than you. Its just that you weren't there.. How can I talk to some one who hasn't seen their best friends head blown off.. or seen four of their brothers disapear in less than a sec after an E.F.P goes off..

We can't win because winning this war would kill our souls as well as our country.

That's a really powerful description. Thank you for sharing it and thank you for your service.

As I said previously, it seems hopeless, especially as characterized by your comments.

Originally posted by allenidaho
I'm somewhat certain that this is why the suicide rate is pretty high. You can't really talk to the people you are supposed to be able to talk to. All that anger and sadness gets bottled up inside. Me, I eventually got over it. Others, not so much. We did have 2 suicides shortly after we got back to Japan.

That's what I think the difference is between now and World War Two. How long did it take for guys to get home from Europe or the Pacific? Weeks, months? It depended upon how many points they had. So, while they were waiting, they had a chance to "decompress".

I was home from the AOR in a matter of hours. Flying combat missions maybe a few hours before I got on the rotator home.