23 US marines commit suicide this year-Suicides of US Marines have reached their high

[thedrifter]

23 US marines commit suicide this year-Suicides of US Marines have reached their highest level in five years


Thursday December 23 2004 03:22:39 AM BDT


LOS ANGELES, Dec 22: Suicides of US Marines have reached their highest level in five years, prompting a Defence Department effort to encourage Marines to seek mental health services, a Marine Corps spokesman said on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

But spokesman Bryan Driver said there was no evidence linking the higher suicide rate with the long tours of duty and frontline fighting Marines have engaged in Iraq.
There have been 32 confirmed or probable suicides among 178,000 Marines this year, surpassing the 28 who killed themselves in 2001 as the United States invaded Afghanistan, Driver said.

The Marines, the smallest of the US armed services by number of troops, have had the military''s highest suicide rate -- about 25 per year among 178,000 active duty troops since 1999, the year the government began keeping detailed records.

"What we found out when we looked into the circumstances are relationship problems, financial problems, legal problems. Those are the three main triggers in these Marines'' lives," Driver said.

The suicide data was first reported on Tuesday by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Camp Pendleton, California-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force has had more than 200 soldiers killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003.

The Defence Department has contracted with private provider Ceridian Corp. to provide mental health services to Marines, Driver said.

The military suicide rates remain well below suicide rates of about 21 per 100,000 for similar civilian populations, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics.


Ellie

[HardJedi]

Don't the Marine ALWAYS have the highest suicide rate? I personally knew two kids who commited suicide, and another three who attempted it in my time in the Corps. A very sad fact.

I never did understand it, and whenever I got really down, I just remembered what my Senior Drill Instructor told me, " the fastest and easiest way home, is to stay out of trouble, and just do your four years."

When it seems like half the world already wants to kill our Marines, it's sad that some of them take thier OWN lives. But I have trouble having any REAL sympathy for them. They QUIT! they left thier brothers and sisters for thier own selfish reason, and that is just NOT right, no matter what.

[al20852]

Maybe the system just failed them (and us). With the need for manpower, maybe people are getting thorugh training who shouldn't. We would all like to think that anyone who gets thorugh training would be strong enough to deal with the stress of war. My fear is that standards may be lessened given the need for manpower, and that by lessening those standards people who can't really deal wkith the stress get through. It's not their fault. Maybe the system failed them.

But, every war or conflict we have had in recent memory has resulted in significant psycholgical damage for those who were there. It is just something that the powers that be need to deal with, not when they come home, but now. To fail to recognize that war creates psychological stress on the participants is to just stick your head in the sand and ignore reality. There is nothing more stressful than being shot at or having to try to kill someone else. If we learned anything from Viet Nam, it is not to ignore the psycholofcial strains on those who survvive, something that most other Amercians could not even hope to understand.

[femalemarine_89]

I know what you mean al.. I can remember my dad when he was home from nam for awhile.. I can remember hearing him yell at night. I can remember my mom telling us kids that we had to talk to him before we tried to wake him up.. I can remember a time that I walked into the bedroom to wake him up and touched his foot and he sat right up in the bed with his eyes open yelling and he was not even awake.. I have lived thru it thru my dad i guess you can say.. i know its not the same.. but i do know what you are talking about from a outside perspective seeing it

[kentmitchell]

Guess I'm just a survivor. In 65 years I've learned you can get used to just about anything.
And you screw up too many people that you leave behind.
I have to go along with HardJedi, it's weak and selfish.
Colin Powell might be a doggie but he was right about one thing: No matter how bad things are today, it'll look better when you wake up tomorrow.

[Sgted]

In the end......some who think they have what it takes just might not have what it takes. Rather then face combat, fear or the embarassment of "falling out", they end it all.

Reminds me of a man in Staging back in '66.
Although a volunteer Marine, when it came down to facing Vietnam he coulden't "hack it".
He didn't commit suicide but tried real hard.
They eventually pulled him out of the Company his fate unknown.

I always thought that it was better that his inability to handle the fear of Vietnam showed it's face before he might have to be depended on by his fellow Marines.
And isen't that one of the goals of training.
Weeding out the men who cannot take the heat.

[yellowwing]

...suicide rates remain well below suicide rates of about 21 per 100,000 for similar civilian populations...
If you do the math, USMC rates this year are 17 out of 100k. And we handle A LOT MORE PRESSURE!

But I do wonder what the math would be if you factor in our Veterans?

[Sgted]

Originally posted by yellowwing


But I do wonder what the math would be if you factor in our Veterans?

Back in the early 90's information I had gathered then stated that almost 3 times as many Vietnam Vets had taken their lives then were on the Wall. (approx 130,000).
This was disputed by the CDC who stated that (at that time) approx 9,000 Vietnam Veterans had comitted suicide since the war ended.
Mortality rates among Vietnam Vets ran approx 17% higher then the general population from drug overdoses and motor vehicle accidents.
This information is old now.
But it would be interesting to know the figures.
I have seen so much dispair in the Vietnam Veteran population since comming to terms with my own experience.
The kind of weight that creates these figures.

[TRLewis]

I was talking with a navy doctor about this kid who tried to commit suicide. And I was new to the fleet so I asked him how often does this happen? It was my first month there, he said not too often but Marines have the fewest suicide attempts, but the most successes.

I wasnt really sure how to take that.

[d c taveapont]

i have not been here in a while....but this topic is sure hard for those who have lived it......back in 1973 after i left the Corps some friends and i were out drinking when we came to a stop sign and there was a Logging truck coming down the road...i told my pals to hang on cause i'm going to beat the truck and they didn't believe me until i pulled out and the truck barely missed us.......my cousin bucky hit the emergency brakes and pulled me out when we stopped and commenced to put a whuppin on me....you know the funny thing was I didn't care....but after my Mrs had our first son i sure in the hell straightened up......and i do live every day to the fullest.......i know that its hard for some so I don't and will not condem them......

[jinelson]

d c taveapont

Glad to see ya back with your Bro's and Siss's again where ya been? You were as nuts as I was Bro.

[LivinSoFree]

To borrow a line...

"Whatever it is, it CAN'T be THAT BAD!"

Cliche and simplistic, but nonetheless true.

[d c taveapont]

jinelson been having fun watching the grandaughter. shes 8 months old and a spittin image of her grandpa...just kiddin but she does look like her dad...and glad to see that your still up and about....just keep on a keepin......S/F bro.....

[SHOOTER1]

I can say that Ive thought about it,a lot,and came to the concleusion that I wont let the bastards win,and its not fair to those left behind,sorry but IMHO they wimped out, Nobody promised you a Rose Garden,so you have to take lifes curveballs,and make homeruns,thats what Marines do. JMHO

[Namvet67]

to borrow another line...... I T'S A L L TEMPORARY

[JAG5150]

I just don't know, I've been through a lot of B.S. in my life, 2 wars, 2 wives and 10 years of law enforcement. I've been down and out but i have never contimplated taking my own life. I think that it is chicken s**t and a cowards way out. Maybe these people never deserved the title Marine. The title Marine exudes courage and confidence, not weakness. This is just my feeling, I could be wrong but I don't think so.