We are losing too many to suicide, it’s now estimated that 22 per day are killing themselves. ONE is too many. If you know a vet having problems, please take the time to help him or her, and get them help from the services available…Go there for more. Go here to find help.
I lost a friend to suicide after he returned from 'Nam. Please do whatever you can to prevent others from taking that road.
For some additional perspective on our veterans, here's an account written by a French soldier who served alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
...they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump. Here we discover America as it is often depicted: their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley.I'm not quite sure what that last sentence means, but you get the idea. Go here for the full story. It's well worth your time.
4 comments:
Thanks for the link, and good one on the French soldier's comments.
No, thank you for the original post. And yeah, I thought the French soldier's comments were worth repeating.
I followed Jake Woods' milblog through Iraq and then Afghanistan. Then when the earthquake hit Haiti a few years ago, Jake and his Marine buddies stepped in to help. Jake then co-founded Team Rubicon . Clay Hunt was one of Jake's buddies whose suicide changed Team Rubicon's mission. Now, not only does the organization help people in need and give purpose to our returning soldiers, it helps soldiers with PTSD.
BB, I didn't know about Team Rubicon. Thanks for the info.
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