Agreed.
According to:
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2007/11/13/cbs-early-show-veteran-suicide-rates-shockingly-high
“In reality, according to an October 31 Associated Press article, “A total of 147 troops have killed themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began...Add the number of returning veterans and the finding is that at least 430 of the 1.5 million troops who have fought in the two wars have killed themselves over the past six years.”
---------------------- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/cbsnews_investigates/main3496471.shtml
In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.
Dr. Steve Rathbun is the acting head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department at the University of Georgia. CBS News asked him to run a detailed analysis of the raw numbers that we obtained from state authorities for 2004 and 2005. It found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets. (Veterans committed suicide at the rate of between 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000, compared to other Americans, who did so at the rate of 8.9 per 100,000.) One age group stood out.
Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror. They had the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same age. (The suicide rate for non-veterans is 8.3 per 100,000, while the rate for veterans was found to be between 22.9 and 31.9 per 100,000.)
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http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/61/7/619
Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that veterans who were white, those with 12 years of education and those with activity limitations (after adjusting for medical and psychiatric morbidity) were at a greater risk for completing suicide. Veterans were twice as likely (adjusted hazard ratio 2.04, 95% CI 1.10 to 3.80) to die of suicide compared with non-veterans in the general population.
The risk of death from "natural" causes (diseases) and the risk of death from "external" causes did not differ between the veterans and the non-veterans.
Interestingly, male veterans who were overweight had a significantly lower risk of completing suicide than those who were of normal weight.
Conclusions: Veterans in the general US population, whether or not they are affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), are at an increased risk of suicide. With a projected rise in the incidence of functional impairment and psychiatric morbidity among veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, clinical and community interventions that are directed towards patients in both VA and non-VA healthcare facilities are needed.
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http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9202
From Oregon:
Here are the rates of suicide per 100,000 males (statistically adjusted for age) from the report: 2000-2005 Oregon Male Rates of Suicide Veterans = 46.05 per 100,000 Non-Veterans = 22.09 per 100,000
Millet says when Oregon state researchers broken down the veteran suicide data (from the years 2000 to 2005) by age, three groups had “significantly” higher rates. She provided CBS News those rates: (Note: Millet says the following rates of suicide are statistically adjusted for age and by year to weed out any random factors so the comparison between veterans and non-veterans is an “oranges to oranges” match.)
Oregon Males Ages: 18-24
Veterans = 134 per 100,000
Non-Veterans = 27 per 100,000
Oregon Males Ages:
35-44 Veterans = 47 per 100,000
Non-Veterans = 26 per 100,000
Oregon Males Ages: 45-54
Veterans = 48 per 100,000
Non-Veterans = 28 per 100,000