The CBS Evening News (6/7, lead story, 2:20, Pelley) led off its Thursday broadcast by reporting that the “war in Iraq is over, and the war in Afghanistan is winding down, but the pace of military suicides is actually increasing to a record level. Pentagon figures show that as of this past Monday, 154 service members had taken their lives so far in 2012, an average of more than one a day, and much higher than the 138 killed so far this year in Afghanistan.” Pentagon “officials say one possible reason for this unexpected spike in suicides is the poor economy, which has also caused an increase in civilian suicides.”
The AP (6/8, Burns) reports, “Suicides are surging among America’s troops, averaging nearly one a day this year — the fastest pace in the nation’s decade of war.” The “numbers are rising among the 1.4 million active-duty military personnel despite years of effort to encourage troops to seek help with mental health problems.” The “renewed surge in suicides has caught the attention of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta,” who in an internal memo sent last month to the “Pentagon’s top civilian and military leaders” said, “We must continue to fight to eliminate the stigma from those with post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues.”
Related Links:
— “AP IMPACT: Suicides are surging among US troops,”Robert Burns, Associated Press, June 8, 2012.