Why so many military suicides?

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

true story...

in boot camp...we had a guy named ripple...

he was the one who was always picked on...

one night he tried to kill himself(well...not really...it was a fake atempt)....by taken a lot of penicillin(?) pills...

he was always getting us in trouble...i mean all the times we had to do pushup because of his goofiness...

we got pretty mad at him...a gang of us dragged in into the bathroom...twisted his arms to the point he opened his mouth...the company's master at arms, a BIG brother name cook...

stuck his finger down the dudes throat till he puked, the whole time telling him what a *^*% up he was and if he bit him he would break his neck...

then the guy finally broke down and told us he only took three pills...

for real...you can't make this stuff up...

saintmichaeldefendthem · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:15 pm Post subject:

When I was in Reception Battalion right before Basic Training, one soldier in our company went out to the street and threw himself.....in front of a Toyota. Either a pathetic suicide attempt, or a well devised plan to simulate a suicide attempt to get out of the Army. Well, he got his wish; he was treated and then chaptered out.

While I was in Basic Training, in our training Battalion in Ft. Jackson two things happened; one soldier threw himself out of a 3 story window, but lived. A 2nd was unfortunately successful. He was found hanging in the utility closet with a buffer cord, it was very sad.

While treasonous, left leaning news organizations will frame this to put the military in a bad light during a time of war, the truth is, the military is populated heavily on the young side. And young people often consider suicide because they are not yet used to the extreme challenges that life throws at them and they are looking for an escape. Surviving Basic Training was the most difficult and strenuous thing I have ever done in my life, so I can see why some can't take it.

When we get older we grow wiser and we understand that although there are bad times, they never last. With perseverence to weather the storms, we will see sunny days again eventually. This is a lesson vouchsafed by experience; a lesson the young have yet to learn.

Statistics have their own way of lying, whether intentionally or not. They don't invite us to delve deeper into the core issue and the interplay between cause and effect. They are fodder for the unintelligent to remain oblivious to the real world. It's all a matter of the impression that's intended. When one reads the first two paragraphs that I wrote in this post, one might conclude that suicide in Army Basic Training is rampant. But things are put into perspective when I marshall the intellectual honesty to tell you that our training battalion housed over 4000 soldiers per cycle. This is not a type of honesty that you will find on an MSNBC report.

Pax Christi

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

whipple!!...it just dawned on me...the dudes name was whipple and not ripple...

he did not get in trouble ..no one told on him...

RevJP · Moderator Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 6840 Location: USA

saintmichaeldefendthem · Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject:

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

.....rude.... Confused or disgusted

but ...

RevJP · Moderator Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 6840 Location: USA

Very funny, but like I stated earlier, some of us have served longer than you have been alive.

BTW tss... I'm not much older than you....

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

three or four years i guess...that is why i said it was rude...
Laughing

....

saintmichaeldefendthem · Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:34 am Post subject:

RevJP,

I will concede this to you in deferrence and respect to you as a much older man who has served our country long before I was born. Thank you for your service.

Very Happy

Trinity1 · Emperor of the World Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 3111

Did I miss something in this thread or did the Army have 99 suicides in 2005... and that there were over 5600 in the Department of Defense for the same year. The Army, being the largest component of DoD having only 99.... it seems the 5600 figure is waaaaaaay to high... inflated, wrong, a distortion.

RevJP · Moderator Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 6840 Location: USA

What you missed Trinity is the subject refers to the military, not just the Army.

Trinity1 · Emperor of the World Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 3111

RevJP · Moderator Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 6840 Location: USA

Sorry Trinity, I'm missing your point. Where are you getting 5500?

Trinity1 · Emperor of the World Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 3111

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

of course suicide rates go up as soldiers fight in wars...

i mean the guilt from murdering innocent people must be overwhelming...