Suicide

We need to do more to protect these young, idealistic Americans from despair, or their deaths will be our shame. 

“I was made to feel like I was a second-class citizen and a piece of shit for things outside my control.”

“Is there something we’re missing?”

Let’s get our priorities in order.

"The dump truck that was parked on my chest was slowly backing off. I was reinflating."

"It’s one thing to tell somebody how to do something, it’s another to go through the experience."

To say nothing of the human costs.

“Let me say that my choice of words was poor."

"Leaders need to be asking those questions, and they are, because they now know people are number one."

"It's a complete shock... It's like a horror movie."

Looking someone in the eye as you tell them you care is when the real work of suicide prevention begins.

A veteran died on the Fourth of July 2018 after two calls to the suicide hotline went unheeded.

"The Army can deploy thousands and thousands of troops during a war situation within 24 hours .... And they can't expedite our daughter off a base after two sexual assaults?"

"This will save tens of thousands of lives every year."

"Just because someone can carry the weight, doesn't mean that it isn't heavy."

Wilkie did not have specific dollar figures, but he said the program is tailored to reach rural communities.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is facing criticism after he recounted a story about a military veteran who committed a violent crime after his wartime service

“The stressors that we have are much different than the stressors we had last year"

Facing the possibility that no veteran suicide laws would pass by the end of the legislative calendar, the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees reached an agreement.

"Regardless of which uniform we wear, we’re not immune from life’s challenges, including thoughts of suicide."

“I’ll be honest with you, collectively we’re struggling with how to deal with this.”

"One problem is we can call this or that number or call the chaplain, without realizing the person in that dark space doesn’t want help. We’ve got to give them a reason to call that number."

The military is caught up in a national suicide epidemic.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is proposing spending $682 million more next fiscal year on mental health issues, and ramping up funding for suicide prevention efforts by one-third, as it faces Congressional scrutiny over a series of tragic incidents on VA premises over the past year

A military veteran accused of faking his own death days before he was expected to plead guilty to raping and impregnating his 14-year-old stepdaughter has been added to the U.S. Marshals' 15 Most Wanted fugitives list