There isn't a way to mark an entire forum post as off-topic, edignan, so we'll leave this one in the General Discussion.

I hope we can have a civil dialog here, everyone. CR4 isn't the place to talk politics, of course, but the well-being of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines is a topic that many here feel strongly about.

Let's leave the bashing of Presidents past and present to other people on other Web sites.

Personally, I'm with edignan that "This isn't about our feelings for or against the wars, this isn't about our feelings about the military; this is about helping a lot of young kids cope with a hard situation."

edignan,

One thing that I have always said is that even if I disagree with the war I will always support the troops. I have been involved with veterans and their families for my entire life, since my father started taking my family to the veterans hospitals when I was no older than 4. I loved your post and am proud that the administers understand that it is not political and are leaving it posted.

From the bottom of my heart-THANK YOU!

Is there no support structure in the army to deal with these problems? or are they just swept under the rug?

Not really mate, soldiers were previously told to get over it and even now seeking help is seen as weakness. Have a look what happened to the POWs from WW2 and the Vietnam Vets. Being exposed to life or death stress for long periods of time is extremely unnatural.

Damn right! It's not about 'us'. Its about them.

Firstly, I am a Vietnam Vet. Secondly, I have some degree of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Thirdly, I do not mean to lessen the importance of helping service members get through tough times.

But...

This is reportedly the first time the Army suicide rate has exceeded the national average. With this in mind, this "could" just be an abnormal spike rather than a trend. Only time will tell.

So...

Before reacting without thought to these reports, follow the money. The vast majority of those contributing to crazes like this usually have some inherent interest (grants, professional advancement, etc) in publicizing it as much as possible.

The same thing happened after Vietnam. We Vets were all crazed, homeless, and drug addicted. There were thousands of people who wanted to "help" us with help from gov't grants. Turns out that they were only helping themselves in the gov't feed trough as the vast majority of us Vietnam Vets were happy, productive citizens. In fact, most of us were disgusted about the stigmata that was attached to us by those who took advantage of the feel good, do-gooder system. It actually drove many of us to deny our military heritage.

That said, PLEASE DO show our current warriors any support possible. I know they need and appreciate it, just as we were did in our day.

Hooker

This is what disturbs me the most: the spike in suicides. Is it accounted for by the war-without-end scene in Iraq. Or is there another cause we should worry about.