Ana Palomo

Writing 1200

Rob Wilson

An American Soldier

“I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.”

An American Soldier is trained to live by the warrior’s ethos , they are taught to survive and defend each other in any given battle, but can’t always save themselves from their menacing minds.

What is suicide?

The action of killing oneself intentionally

In in this aspect, suicide is one of the biggest issues within our

United States military.

It has continued to increase within the last eight years and

although awareness has increased, the numbers have not

yet decreased.

Signs

• Over 90% of people who die by suicide have clinical depression or another diagnosable mental disorder. Many times, people who die by suicide have a substance abuse problem. Often they have that problem in combination with other mental disorders.

According to Web MD

• Always talking or thinking about death• Clinical depression -- deep sadness, loss of interest, trouble sleeping

and eating -- that gets worse• Having a "death wish," tempting fate by taking risks that could lead

to death such as driving fast or running red lights• Losing interest in things one used to care about• Making comments about being hopeless, helpless, or worthless• Putting affairs in order, tying up loose ends, changing a will• Saying things like "it would be better if I wasn't here" or "I want

out"• Sudden, unexpected switch from being very sad to being very calm

or appearing to be happy• Talking about suicide or killing one's self• Visiting or calling people to say goodbye

Why?

• Marital problems– Enlisted Women are more likely to commit suicide

because of marital issues than men– Married enlisted men are less likely to commit suicide

than single men

• Financial Struggles• Bullying and hazing within the military• PTSD

– Post Traumatic Stress Disorders

• Past mental health conditions– Depression, anxiety, mood and personality disorders.

CASE #1

Spc. Dalton,of 1st batallion 15th infantry regiment, in columbus georgia committed suicide in 2006 after his second deployment in Iraq.

A fairly new soldier found him in his room taking his food, as he commonly did with all of his other friends. Not knowing this common , friendly joking behavior from Dalton, the soldier called the Military Police.

Spc. Dalton was under the influence of alcohol and was easily angered. He was escorted to his room by another soldier to get another set of clothes before being detained.

In his room, he grabbed a revolver from his closet and concealed it in his clothes.

• He proceeded to batallion office, asked everyone to sit on the couch and pulled out the revolver.

• In front of everyone, he shot himself and ended his life.

CASE #2

Female soldier commits suicide

• Pvt Galina Klippel was only 24 years old when she decided to take her life.

• She was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Wahiawa,Hi.

• She had returned from a year long deployment to afghanistan.

• She took refuge in her vehicle after the Military police received a call about an enraged soldier with a firearm.

• She shot her fatal shot around 5:30 pm of March 4 2011.

• No obvious signs of PTSD were present, but she has confided in her family about how much she had been affected by the children in Afghanistan.

Suicide rate spikes among women

• “An increasing number are female Soldiers, who rarely committed suicide before but now are killing themselves at a much higher rate.”

• A female soldier’s marriage is twice as likely to result in divorce than a male soldier’s.

• A female soldier is twice as likely to get divorced as her civilian peers. Men are less likely to get divorced than their civilian peers.

Suicide takes its toll…

As of 2011, the number of suicides among active duty soldiers has begun to level off at a rate of 150 members dying of a self inflicted cause a amonth, and 346 including guard, reserves and past veterans.

• 2010 was the second consecutive year that the amount of soldiers

who killed themselves, outnumbered the amount of soldiers killed in combat.

• We are losing the war within our own military.

Who is at risk?

• The suicide rate in the U.S. Army now exceeds the rate across the United States as a whole.

• Young male soldiers are twice as likely to commit suicide than the national average.

• Young female soldiers are three times as likely as the national average to take their own lives.

Casualties

• In the summer of 2009, the U.S.

military lost 761 soldiers in combat.

But a higher number in the

service, 817 had taken their own lives

during the same time period.

• An average of 18 veterans commit suicide each day.

• The majority of army suicides, 60 % are committed during the first enlistment the first four years are the hardest.

Can we Fix it?

Although the war against suicide has been going on for a few years, we continue to thrive for a better support system for those who fight for us. It is a problem that the United States Army as a whole is desperately in need of solving. It will be difficult and will not happen overnight, but it can and will be resolved.