Thanks for your comment. I agree that our returning military are treated badly by many including the military itself. I think many of these suicides could be prevented with better after care. I believe these men and women feel incredibly alone and misunderstood (as they often are). They believe no one who has not “been there” can really understand (they may be right).

In terms of your other point, there are hateful people all over the world who would kill and torture others (not just Americans) without hesitation. This is common in many third world countries. We will never be rid of them all, the question is how do we deal with them? I also wonder why it seems to be getting worse. Is it, what do you think? Are people more desperate all over the world and need scapegoats? I hope other get in on this discussion.

Thanks again and please take care of yourself.

Dr. Duffy

Do you think that the suicide rate of our soldiers has anything to do with the way they’re treated by our society when they return from the Middle East? Perhaps it’s the fact that these young men and women know that horrific terrorist acts on our soil are imminent; acts that will make the carnage of 11 September 2001 seem like a small “incident”.

Yet, they return home to skeptics and critics. Skeptics and critics who show no appreciation for the work they are trying to do with one hand tied behind each of their backs; hands tied by politicians who don’t want to tarnish their brass pencil sets with the bloodshed that would be necessary to get things done once and for all. The aspirations of these hand-shakers to move from a regular office building to one with a white dome on top threatens the lives of our brave soldiers and keeps them from doing their jobs.

There is a threat and it needs to be eliminated. The bubble you speak of belongs to those in this world who refuse to believe that there are people out there who would torture and kill our women and children without even blinking an eye and then celebrate for days to repeated images of the carnage they inflict. Instead our troops hear how their efforts are a “waste of time and money” which is, in it self, a distortion of reality. Our troops are so under-funded they’re forced to spend their own money on protective vests and metal to reinforce their vehicles using salaries so small many rely on food stamps to feed their families. All while someone earns $144 million dollars in one year to sit on their butt and insult people who are trying to live their dreams. That’s what’s insane!

Until we wake up and realize that there are people who hate Americans with every cell in their body, there are going to be soldiers committing suicide in record numbers. Not because they feel their time and the taxpayers’ money are being wasted in the Middle East when it could be feeding people in Third World countries. Rather because they have the burden of knowing the truth and they’re not being allowed to utilize their skills and their training to take care of it.