Disgusting...

So as soon as I finish blogging about suicide and spouses I flip over to my facebook page. There the Blue Star Families have posted a link to a story on NPR that will discuss a new program launched by the parents of Clay Hunt, former Marine that committed suicide last month, his best friend, and also Alison Buckholtz, author of the story that brought spousal suicide to light. In response to this article, the following responses were posted:

"I, for one, am tired of being made to feel guilty and ungrateful. I didn't ask for the wars and I didn't ask for my tax dollars to be spent on the military machine. I didn't walk around with signs saying "Invade Iraq" just because we can."

"Thank you for your service, but you volunteered. Young people kill themselves every day without ever experiencing the horror of war. I don't know how you can claim to be different or special."

In the civilian world, suicide is the third leading cause of death at 10.4 for 10,000. In the military it is the second leading cause of death at 11.4 for 10,000. This figure for the military, "Carr, Hoge, Gardner, and Potter (2004) suggested that correcting reporting and classification mistakes might increase suicide rates in the military by as much as 21%" (Martin, Ghahramanlou-Holloway, Lou, Tucciarone). I really don't even have to comment on that do I? Why the numbers for the military are staggering and the above comment about kids kill themselves everyday what makes military folks "special"? Especially because if I go into any greater detail about that argument I may just throw my computer against the wall.

When I originally saw the post on IAVA's wall about the spouse that tried to kill herself there were quite a few veterans that were upset it was being posted. A bunch were saying that it was a veterans page and that if they wanted to talk about spouse pages to make a page for them...What happened to needing support for the soldiers?

I've been on some facebook pages lately that are meant to support our troops and there are people on there that just disgust me. What is happening to our country? Its one thing to be up in arms about being at war. I guess I can understand that. Some don't believe in the reasons we are there-but we are there. And the men and women fighting it are not killers. They are human beings with families. The men and women fighting these wars do not go overseas aiming to hurt and maim innocent people; they go over there to secure a better future for the ones coming behind them. They go where they are sent so someone else doesn't have to. They go because its necessary and its their job. To insinuate otherwise its cruel, hurtful, and disgusting.