Veterans twice as likely to commit suicide as civilians

Veterans twice as likely to commit suicide as civilians
Billings Gazette
7 hours ago
By Cindy Uken

They return from war traumatized.

They have survived the grinding stress of being in constant danger. They have seen the worst. Some have injuries that will never heal.

To stay alive, they have learned to trust no one and to never show weakness.

It’s something they don’t want to talk about.

And it’s killing them.

Veterans commit suicide at a rate that is twice the national average. In fact, the annual military death toll from suicides has for several years exceeded the number killed on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

For some returning vets, their injuries are obvious. Many others struggle with unseen wounds like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

But, it’s not just combat vets. In 2010, at least 54 percent of U.S. military suicides had no history of deployment and 89 percent had no combat experience, according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s one-year-old Suicide Prevention Office.

Even for healthy veterans, returning home isn’t always a relief. Many miss the structure of military life and the companionship of their comrades. They find themselves competing for jobs with younger workers who have more up-to-date training. And some return to relationships that have withered or even broken in their absence.

It can all be too much.

In Montana, where nearly 10 percent of the population has served in the military, at least 460 veterans committed suicide between 2002 and 2011, according to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services.

“We go to war to protect ourselves and to give our kids, our grandkids and ourselves the lifestyle we have every day,” said Kellie Lafave, an RN and suicide prevention coordinator for VA Montana since 2005. “Sometimes we don’t want to think about the consequences of what we ask people to do in order to make that happen.”

The rate of suicides among veterans in Montana reflects the state’s high rate.
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Seven of the men who deployed to Iraq with Ryan Ranalli have committed suicide

Montana National Guard non-existant suicide prevention plan

Seven of the men who deployed to Iraq with Ryan Ranalli have committed suicide

Right now I'm struggling trying to figure out the best post title to do this report justice. Too many parts of this story that need to be paid attention to and yet I'm wondering why we still have to read stories like this after all these years.

Veteran: 'You're taught in the military that you don't ask for help'
Billings Gazette
8 hours ago
By Cindy Uken

“You’re taught in the military that you don’t ask for help,” Ranalli said. “If you do, it’s a sign of weakness, especially in the infantry, to talk to somebody or to ask for help. You’re looked down upon. It’s just kind of beat into you. You’re supposed to be self-sufficient.”

HELENA — Seven of the men who deployed to Iraq with Ryan Ranalli have committed suicide. The latest killed himself in August.

Ranalli, a retired U.S. Army sergeant, saw how the deaths gutted family members.

Despite struggling with the demons of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, Ranalli, 33, vowed that suicide would never be an option.

Yet about 9 p.m. on April 8, an angry and drunken Ranalli mumbled something to his wife, “I love you,” or “You know I will always love you” and sought refuge in the family’s garage.

There, the 200-pound, 6-foot, 3-inch veteran grabbed a parachute cord, wrapped it around his neck and slung it over a beam.

His horrified wife, Jamie, placed a frantic call to his parents who live two minutes away and then went to the garage to be with her husband of two years.

“I thought if I was standing there he wasn’t going to do anything,” Jamie said, choking back tears.

Ranalli’s father cut the cord to rescue his son.

He was transported immediately to the VA hospital.

The drunken episode was the first in about two years.

“I didn’t ever expect that to happen,” Jamie said. “That’s never been him. In my heart I don’t believe it was a serious attempt. I believe it was a cry for help. I believe he was just so overloaded with the feelings and the emotions. Of course, the drinking didn’t help any of that. I believe he was screaming to get him somewhere where he could unload all of this.”

Ranalli remembers nothing of that night, but recalls with precision the events that led to his alcohol-fueled decision.

He was a squad leader with the 502nd Infantry Brigade in March 2003 when it headed the 101st Airborne’s combat air assault into Iraq. The ninth anniversary of the invasion triggered memories of dates when comrades were killed and of defining firefights and battles. He recalled vivid images of combat, images he had suppressed and never discussed.
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In 2007 I asked Why Isn't the Press on a Suicide Watch? Within the list of names was Spc. Chris Dana of the Montana National Guard. His death caused people to take action. Before President Obama was elected the first time, he met with Dana's stepbrother.

August 28, 2008

Spc. Chris Dana's story told to Obama by step brother Stepbrother tells guardsman's story to Obama
Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in Iraq
By LAURA TODE
Of The Gazette Staff

Montana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.

Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.

Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.

Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona.

All these later, I am still collecting stories of deaths that didn't need to happen and still asking why the press in not on suicide watch. If I can find these stories in small press outlets, so can they but they just don't bother to.

There is another report from the Billings Gazette released today.

Montana National Guard non-existing suicide prevention plan

Toby Keith welcomed home Major from Afghanistan shocked wife

Because I have videos on YouTube I get a lot of links to other videos. Usually I get the links soon after they are uploaded but this one took a while. Seems like a great way to welcome in the New Year!
Sep 19, 2012
On September 8, 2012, Toby Keith brought a military wife up on stage at a concert in Houston, Texas. She sang a song with him before Toby surprised her with her husband, Major Pete Cruz, who had been away in Afghanistan.

Want to write about Combat and PTSD?

There are times when I hate tracking reports on PTSD from news sources. This is one of those times because this morning I read this utter load of bullshit!

PTSD didn't exist for Vietnam Vets
Freddy Groves
Veterans Post
Before 1980, there was no diagnosis called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Think about that for a minute. If you need a timeline to consider, we had 16,000 soldiers in Vietnam by 1963, and the number escalated rapidly from there. Saigon fell in 1975.

There was no diagnosis for what was surely an existing condition.

There is no way in hell I'd sign up to read the rest of whatever this editorial had because the damage had already been done.


First the author of this nonsense picked the year 1963. What about all the others before that date?

Year Troop Level
1959 760
1960 900
1961 3,025
1962 11,300
1963 16,300
1964 23,300
1965 184,300
1966 385,300
1967 485,600
1968 536,100
1969 475,200
1970 334,600
1971 156,800
1972 24,200
1973 50

But this doesn't seem to mention the number of troops up to the last battle of the Vietnam War, SS Mayaguez May 12, 1975.

Then the author says that "there was no diagnosis called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" but did not do his research because there was, it was researched and started to be treated.

PTSD Forgotten Warrior Project Forgotten About but that is nothing new. People need to pretend this is all new because then they can justify how sickening all of this is. If they acknowledged how many years researchers have been spending money researching the research already done, compare the appalling results we have today with suicides, attempted suicides topping off a very long list of other issues, we'd have to accept the fact none of this suffering should have happened.

The truth is as much as some want to pretend this is all new, it used to be called "shell shock" before PTSD and other names before that.

So if you want to write about PTSD, do some basic research first. This person just did more harm than good not knowing what the hell he's talking about.

Veteran Gets Help Moving Decades of Memories From Foreclosed Home

Veteran Gets Help Moving Decades of Memories From Foreclosed Home
Dozens of friends and strangers helped the Gunn family move and store motorcycles, furniture, photos and more under a strict eviction deadline.
By Lolita Lopez and Samantha Tata
Friday, Dec 28, 2012

The Gunn family was evicted from their Perris home the day after Christmas, and had one hour on Friday to gather 42 years’ worth of personal belongings.

Tina Gunn – whose veteran husband, Justin, inherited the home from his parents – told her friend Laura Herzog about the looming eviction deadline, unaware that she would mobilize a group to help them gather up four decades of memories.

"I went to Facebook," Herzog said. "I called the Marines Corps. Those guys are amazing."

The founder of the non-profit organization, Honoring Our Fallen, felt compelled to lend a hand to a man who gave five years to the Army and another two decades to the National Guard.

"The fact that we are able to help them take all of their belongings so at least they have that, I can rest my head on a pillow tonight knowing that we did something good," Herzog said.
read more here and watch video report