It was Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman — who fought on the northern end of Missionary Ridge and burned a path from Atlanta to the sea in the War Between the States — who is remembered as saying, “War is Hell.” It certainly is.
War is a horrible thing when Americans’ lives are lost in battle against our nation’s enemies. But there are other military casualties, too. During our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2005 and 2009, more than 1,100 men and women in our armed forces killed themselves!
It is bad enough to have battle casualties inflicted by the enemy. It is horrifying that there are so many soldiers who took their own lives.
Who can understand the pressures, problems and anxieties on battlefields — and at home — that cause military men and women to resort to suicide?
The Army is so concerned that it is devoting $50 million to a study by four research institutions, and $17 million to another study, to find solutions.
“We know we’re not going to solve the suicide problem in the military with this three-year research consortium,” Army Col. Carl Castro said. “But what we hope to do at the end of three years is to lay a solid foundation on which other research can be built.”
Each loss of life in battle is painful for the victims, their families and all of us. Self-inflicted deaths are even more tragic. The problem deserves thorough research to find a remedy.