Soldier Suicide Rates Were Higher When President Clinton Was In Power Than During President Bush's Years

More Soldiers Commit Suicide Under Obama -- Gateway Pundit

Remember how the state-run media would pound George W. Bush every few months over soldier suicides to score political points?

The state-run media didn't tell you that more soldiers committed suicide during the Clinton years than during the Bush years:

Well, don't expect this news to make to many headlines...
More US soldiers are committing suicide now that Barack Obama is president.
France 24 reported:

Suicides in the US Army are on the rise with 88 suspected cases in the first six months of the year, compared to 67 in the same period in 2008, according to Pentagon figures issued.

The latest figures confirmed warnings from top US military officers that the number of suicides among active-duty soldiers this year was on track to surpass a record level set in 2008.

Read more ....

My Comment: As regular readers of this blog know, this is a sensitive topic with me. My Godfather committed suicide (16 years after the war), and our family had to help (in the subsequent years) his wife and children.

The stats from President Clinton's years are surprising, the only major conflict that most of these soldiers experienced was the Iraq/Kuwait conflict 19 years ago, and most soldiers did not see actual combat.

President Bush's years are not surprising .... most soldiers are always thinking of their colleagues during war, and the focus was always on the ongoing conflict. But as more soldiers leave the military to pursue civilian lives, this psychology will start to change.

The stats under President Obama will (sadly) probably going to go up, and will surpass President Clinton's "average". The impact of combat sometimes takes years to make itself evident, and with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan now approaching 7 and 9 years respectively, soldiers who initially served are now dealing with the psychological and stress related problems today.

Still .... the stats under President Clinton are surprising, and I do not have a good explanation for it. As for our veterans who are going through difficult times today .... we must always be vigilant and we must always show them the compassion and respect that they deserve. My father .... before he past away .... deeply regretted in not seeing the signs in his best friend (my Godfather) before he committed suicide. It is an experience that is unfortunately happening everyday .... and what I learned from my own experience is that if it happens its impact will last a lifetime.