Calling Suicide Among Veterans a Crisis

"12 years also is a long time. We now have a lifetime responsibility to a generation of service members, veterans and their families." Dr. Jonathan Woodson 11 Sep. 2013: 'With 9/11 Came Lifetime Responsibility' {two tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, came with these two recent unpaid for wars, nor the results of, DeJa-Vu all over again from the previous decades and wars from! Ignore the many issues, by those served, no need to fund!}

Sen. Bernie Sanders told Republicans: “If you can’t afford to take care of your veterans, than don’t go war. These people are bearing the brunt of what war is about, We have a moral obligation to support them.” February, 26th, 2014

As stated in the video the, oh so patriotic, rove dark money campaign machine has already started attacking the Iraq War Veteran, attacking as not having the leadership to be a Senator, appointed, Sen. Walsh for the upcoming election as he runs to maintain his service in the Senate!

03/26/14 - Veteran suicide epidemic is focus of new bill Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., talks with Rachel Maddow about a new bill he is introducing to the Senate to try to reduce the number of suicides by veterans.

Calling suicide among veterans a crisis, Sen. Walsh proposes reforms

03/26/14 - Calling the high suicide rate among America’s combat veterans unacceptable, U.S. Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., on Wednesday laid out a plan to deal with the crisis.

“Our men and women have given a life commitment to serve our country and we need to make sure we’re taking care of them for the rest of their lives,” Walsh told The Gazette.

Roughly 22 veterans across the country commit suicide daily, according to the Veterans Administration. As a percentage, the rate is double that of the general population. Montana’s suicide rate among veterans was the highest per capita in the nation.

Walsh, a former Montana National Guard adjutant general, said undiagnosed combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries play major roles in the crisis. In some cases, it may take months for symptoms to emerge. By that time, veterans are often disconnected from their combat units and military personnel who might otherwise recognize symptoms.

In some cases, veterans struggling with PTSD or a combat-related brain injury end up receiving a wrongful discharge, meaning from the military’s point of view they suffer from a personality disorder. With that type of discharge, veterans lose their benefits, including care for combat-related mental health issues.

Walsh is proposing a seven-point plan for addressing the suicide crisis, beginning with a review of wrongful discharges, which may number more than 31,000 since the beginning of the Afghan War. read more>>>

"If military action is worth our troops’ blood, it should be worth our treasure, too" "not just in the abstract, but in the form of a specific ante by every American." -Andrew Rosenthal 10 Feb. 2013

Where were the 'offsets' to federal spending as the rubber stamping, more then the off the books wars with no-bid contracts, was going on and claiming 'patriotism' for?

As the, so called, Conservatives ideology continue the long want to privatize the VA, for corporate profit off the government treasury, they Never mention the private sector, with their huge amounts of corporate cash especially in the executive suites, in the hearings or public displays, that handles similar issues, like hospitals and clinics as they attack VA personal when issues arise. Nor do they try to help the, under funded and especially with our wars, VA in overcoming, the VA does that on their own mostly, and in these past some five years with the help of the Executive branch and it's Cabinet, and with what is allotted to them through the representatives of the people served!!

In U.S., hospital-acquired infections run rampant