Suicide Rate for Soldiers Rose in ’07 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: May 30, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) — At least 115 soldiers killed themselves in 2007, up from 102 the previous year, the Army said Thursday. Nearly one-third of them died at the battlefront, 32 in Iraq and 4 in Afghanistan. But 26 percent had never been sent to either conflict. “We see a lot of things that are going on in the war which do contribute,” said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatric consultant to the Army surgeon general. “Mainly the longtime and multiple deployments away from home, exposure to really terrifying and horrifying things, the easy availability of loaded weapons and a force that’s very, very busy right now. And so all of those together we think are part of what may contribute, especially if somebody’s having difficulties already,” Colonel Ritchie said at a news conference. Some common factors among those who took their own lives were trouble with relationships, work problems, and legal and financial difficulties, officials said. The 115 confirmed suicides among active-duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops who had been activated amounted to a rate of 18.8 per 100,000 troops — the highest since the Army began keeping records in 1980. Ninety-three of the 115 suicides were active-duty troops; 22 were members of the Army National Guard or Reserve who had been mobilized. There were also 166 attempted suicides among troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and 935 in the whole Army. As of Monday, there had been 38 confirmed suicides in 2008 and 12 more deaths that were suspected of being suicides but were still under investigation, said Lt. Col. Thomas E. Languirand, head of command policies and programs. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/us/30suicide.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin and... Ultimate Fighting Recruits Military to Its Ranks http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/sports/othersports/30fight.html?ref=us
