20 United States Veterans a Day Commit Suicide; and Nobody Seems to Care
That number is not an exaggeration. A 2016 study from the Veterans Administration claims that 20 Veterans a day commit suicide (https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2016/07/07/new-va-study-finds-20-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day/)
That number is horrific. That means that over 10,000 veterans have killed themselves since President Trump has taken office. If we were to stand in silence for one second to honor each of these veterans we would end up standing in silence for over 2 hours and 45 minutes. Let that sink in.
I am not a Veteran, so I don't pretend to understand the experience of the men and women who choose to join and work in the military. But, clearly, something is very wrong.
And nobody seems to be talking about it. At least, not with any fervor, and not in the mainstream. Twenty every single day. That's horrific.
Last fall I toured with Adam Kokesh across the country for four months. We made stops and held events in over 80 cities. Adam always asked the veterans in the room, "How often do you go to the VA?" and - almost without exception - the answer was, "as seldom as possible."
Veterans don't seem to feel that the VA is working for them. Adam tells a story about going to the VA complaining about having trouble sleeping. They handed him a brown paper sack with 5 prescriptions in it; 3 of which had suicide as a side-effect. It's almost like the VA doesn't exist to help Veterans, but to exist as another recruiting tool to convince young people to join the military. And when your time is up? Have some suicide pills so we don't have to deal with you anymore.
I hate to be that cynical; but something really must be done.
This is why Adam Kokesh's plan would give every Veteran in America one ownership voting share in the VA. I guarantee you, that if you turn over those programs into the hands of the people who use them, we won't have 20 Veteran suicides every day.
There's one more thing that we can all do in the near future. Adam's campaign is hosting a march in New Orleans, Louisiana to honor and bring attention to the Veterans who have chosen to take their own lives. It's being called the March of the Dead Veterans. Join us on Sunday morning, July 1st.
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As tragic this is there is something even more tragic.............. the fact that nobody cares is the true horror that would eventually have far more deeper consequences on society.
I have heard this figure sometime ago so I wasn't as shocked. It means that we not only don't care, we are actually developing immunity against caring.
It's not 22 it's 1 to 1.5, which is still high when compared to the civilian population. I don't know why Adam and his buddies keep trotting out this information, it has been investigated and has been proven that the data was flawed during the study. I post article's below in comment. It only hurts his campaign by continuing to sprout out data that's been proven to be flawed.
What a pity. Although I'm south korean, I never want to their suicide.
By the way, is there any relation between medical insurance and their suicidal?
I heard medical charge is really high in USA.
There is no free market medical care in the USA. Every doctor has to go to medical school for a very long time. Many hospitals are monopolies.
The veterans have a hospital provided by the government. In my area it can take 32 days for a simple medical exam for veterans.
It is made worse by the government importing/facilitating opium import to justify a war on drugs.
Socialism destroys everything, try to avoid it in your country. Best of luck.
Waiting 32days? Don't tell me they have to wait over 30days.
In south Korea, It is possible to see doctor in local area, include psychological doctor. Except really quiet rural, there are many personal hospitals in 10 min, including dental...... Yes there are so many small hospitals. So it is possible to see doctor immediately!
Althoush there is no free market in south korea, medical insurance is really good! Medical charge is usually under 100$!
If patient is required with more medical care, like huge hospital, I think it is possible to meet a doctor in a week. Of course, medical charge is more expensive, but it's really serious case.......
They are veterans of USA, arn't they? It is really terrible and sad story!
These people are having the hard time of their lives and of course they're human too with feelings and emotions. It's too bad sometimes they're being neglected by people that should be the ones to recognize their efforts. 20 dead per day for suicide is horrible indeed and what more is 10,000? what's going on!
That's great news. It used to be 21 a day. It does sound like a lot unless you look at it statistically, the suicide rate for veterans is only a little higher than the suicide rate for the general population. When they were making a bid deal about the 21 a day it seemed like veterans must be committing suicide at many times the rate of civilians but it was only like 20% higher. This is not to say the VA could not do better.
It is many times higher than the general population.
Exactly how many times higher?
Crickets. That's all you'll hear. They won't bother to fact check.
Males in general have a much higher suicide rate
Men are always expected to never fall apart, being a man means being the main adversary against all of life's ills, being single all my life I can attest to what a challenge that kind of expectation can be, for a man falling short isn't consider acceptable to society. I have heard/known men in my life who lost everything for a number of reasons and couldn't face that inevitability of starting over and committed suicide.
yup and that was before men started being portrayed as vile buffoons.
I'll be there!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/march-of-the-dead-veterans-tickets-46487274690