13 U.S. soldiers commit suicide
 

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/sto...20031016XKP102




So sad.:(

What a terrible tragedy.

Very sad

:( very sad! :(

Sad, but nothing new...it happens in every conflict, on every side...

I wish they would rotate more of our troops on leave for R&R like they did that first set.

I read that article earlier.

Did they stop doing that? I hope not. I thought I had read that they were bringing people home every week.

They are still rotating people in and out...anyone who is deployed for 12+ months will get 2 weeks. My cousin, a Army Reservist deployed to Kuwait, is on his way home as we speak (Kuwait to Amsterdam to Detroit to Baltimore to Atlanta.......)

"Referring to the Army rate, Rudd said, "I don't think the suicides we've had in Iraq are going to seriously skew the numbers."

This is terribly sad.

Does that strike anyone else as a cold, inappropriate statement? I think I would have at least added condolences or something. Of course, we don't have the entire context from which the quote came, so maybe it wasn't as uncaring as it sounds.

I'm wondering (with absolutely NO insight or proof) if this kind of thing might be a result of the all volunteer military and the necessity to use National Guard and Reserve components more often and for longer periods of time? Every volunteer should know that there is a chance of a war, but the reality is that many young people enlist in hopes of reaping the educational benefits, etc. later and don't every really expect to see combat. At least with the draft, as awful and unfair as that was, we knew what to expect if/when our number was called.

I think (notice I said "think," again no proof) that setting a time to be away may also be a mistake. In WWII, the soldiers were drafted for "The remainder of hostilities and three months," or some quote very close to that. Once they were sent overseas, they didn't expect to come home until the war was over.

Many people believe that setting an expected one year maximum deployment seriously hurt our combat effectiveness in Vietnam, because during the last couple of months the soldiers were so transfixed on not getting hurt or killed, they might not have been as aggressive. I know that in many cases that was true. I have seen no comment on that so far in this conflict -- and our forces have been magnificent as far as I can tell.

Since this article has been published, I suspect we'll hear more about all of this after the end of hostilities.

OMG I can't even begin to describe the sadness I'm feeling for their family and friends. :(

Deltalum, I was just going to say something about that...skew the numbers? What about the fact that some of our nations finest and bravest are throwing away God's most precious gift? Screw the statistics. That's one reason why being involved in the military (either as a serviceperson or as family) is so frustrating. I heard a story once about some women who were widowed as a result of Pearl Harbor. They went to talk to someone "higher up" about how it could have been prevented and how they lost their husbands because of it. The man replied "Ma'am you can't see the forest for the trees," and promptly walked away. I do hope they figure out what's going on w/ these soldiers to prevent anyone else from resulting to suicide. It's a stressful situation out there.

Bring them home. That's all I'm going to say on the subject.

Unfortunately, that's really not a viable alternative at this point. I'm afraid that the US has opened a can of worms and at this point will suffer far more if they just pulled out now than if they fixed the problem for the long haul.

The question is if "fixing" Iraq is even possible?

I really hope that in the end we're successful over there and these men and womens' sacrifices will not be in vain.

It sure does, DeltAlum -- he's talking about soldiers as though there were kleenex, like throwaways. Yeesh, these are human beings, with parents, wives, kids here. :rolleyes: Give them some dignity, buddy.

Glad you mentioned the context issue. All we know is what was reported. Some people need to give this lady a break and remember that news articles are always edited.

"Of course we're concerned," Rudd said. "Even one suicide is alarming and upsetting."

On further reflection, no matter what the context, I think that the quote is unfortunate. Whether is was couched in sympathy or not, it still makes the deceased a number instead of a human being.

Perhaps it should have simply not been said.

Of course we all know what they say about hindsight...

They are rotating, but there have to be soldiers to take the others places. My husbands two weeks is scheduled in December (right around my due date! YEAH!), and he's been there since May 1st. I don't watch the news, but someone told me that some other countries have volunteered to send troops in. It comes down to a matter of manpower.

aj