WE COULD TALK ABOUT ALL THE FACTS AND FIGURES OF OUR VETS DIFFICULTIES IN ADJUSTING TO LIFE AFTER THEIR SERVICE BUT IT COMES DOWN TO THE FACT THAT OUR MILITARY VETS ARE NOT PREPARED EMOTIONALLY FOR LIFE AFTER SACRIFICING SO MUCH FOR THEIR COUNTRY. OUR VETERANS BODY’S CAME HOME BUT SOMETHING IS MISSING. THERE’S AN INABILITY TO COME HOME COMPLETELY.
“But I am less injured than I am displaced. I will never belong, mostly because I have been something that most of my fellow citizens have not been and cannot be: a soldier.”
WHY THE NEED FOR A VETERAN INITIATIVE BY AMERICA’S LIONS CLUBS
22 Veterans commit suicide daily, one every 65 Minutes – This figure shockingly may be higher as there is no uniform reporting system for deaths in America.
30% of All Veterans Have considered suicide and 45 % said they know an Iraq or Afghanistan vet who has attempted suicide.
Nearly One in Five suicides nationally is a veteran even though vets make up about 10% Of The U.S. population.
Nearly One in Five suicides nationally is a veteran even though vets make up about 10% Of The U.S. population.
Combat stress is just one reason why veterans attempt suicide. Military sexual assaults are another. military victims of violent assault or rape are six times more likely to attempt suicide than military non-victims.
More than 69% of all veteran suicides were among those 50 and older. Mental-health professionals said one reason could be that these men give up on life after their children are out of the house or a longtime marriage falls apart. They are also likely to be Vietnam veterans, who returned from war to a hostile public and an unresponsive VA.
Leon Panetta, the former defense secretary, called the suicide rate among service members an epidemic.