Suicide among soldiers

I heard on MSNBC this morning that Congress has been holding hearings on the mental health services offered to veterans and the general conclusion is that the services are grossly inadequate. Add that fact to these staggering numbers: on average, 120 soldiers committed suicide every week in 2005, or 18 suicides a day, which is double the rate in the general population [these figures are cited in a CBS News investigation; this is what I found online: a total of 109 suicides of Army soldiers would equal a rate of 18.4 per 100,000, compared with the civilian suicide rate of 11 per 100,000 in 2004, though the VA admits that the tracking is inadequate]. Whatever figures are correct, it's substantially more than are dying "in country" - in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is sickening and terrible. We owe these people much, much better than they're getting.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/cbsnews_investigates/main3496471.shtml