Never Leave a Soldier Behind

"Some gave all, all gave some." Millions of soldiers have deployed to the Middle East in the last ten years. For the ones that came back, life is often different after combat. Haunting dreams and memories, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and family changes leave the soldier desperately clinging to any hope they can get. When a soldier needs help, who is there to help them? The answer should be everyone, but is that the case? Some say the United States government and the services are not doing enough to protect the soldiers from suicide, while others claim the government has it as their top priority. After the sacrifices these heroes have given, it is their right to the best services and help, to get them back to the life they deserve to live, regardless of the cost. Is it true that the Armed forces are failing to prevent suicides?

The suicide rate increased by about fifty percent from 10.3 per 100,000 people in 2001 to 15.8 percent in 2008, according to a study commissioned by the Defense Department. A Pentagon task force reported that from 2005 through 2009 more than 1,100 service members’ committed suicide. James Hoserk, a senior economist at the Rand think tank, told the senior committee that the studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suggest that 18.4 percent of them suffer from mental health problems. That applied to the 2.2 million service members who have deployed that estimate yields nearly 405,000 people (Katel). Its obvious there is a problem, one the armed forces has recognized and stepped up full force to stop. William C Schaenhard stated, " We have made progress in 2008, 77,000 veterans were treated in primary care settings for mental health. That rose to 155,000 in 2010 ” (Katel).

I believe that t...

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