Veteran’s Corner
Tom Krabbenhoft
You’ve all heard the statistic 22 a day, which represents the Veteran daily suicide rate. The rate has decreased to 17.6 a day. According to data gathered in 2022 that was published in the 2024 national Veterans suicide report by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Here are some of the key statistics according to the study:
There were 6,407 veteran suicides in 2022, with an average of 17.6 suicides per day.
The unadjusted suicide rate among veterans was 34.7 per 100,000.
Two facts that grabbed my attention were the age of male Veterans committing suicide increased with most male Veterans commit suicide after age 55.
One can only speculate on the reasons.
My own theories:
1. Divorce- if you are a Veteran going through divorce nothing is fair. Predatory lawyers will throw they are a “crazy veteran” we all see portrayed in Hollywood. Military service should not be used in such a malicious way. It’s used for costing the Veteran custody of their kids or collapses their finances.
2. Chronic pain- a lot of Veterans suffer chronic pain. Daily pain can destroy all aspects of life and health. Sleep, mindset, physical activities. It’s very difficult to deal with day to day. Theories abound about Howard Hughes madness was linked to chronic pain.
Female Veterans suicides on the other hand age decreased by 24%.
The suicide among veterans rate is still double the national rate.
The 17.6 should be viewed as a victory to the groups and organizations fighting this epidemic daily. Your efforts are working.
More good news military recruiting goals have been met three months early. Recruiting is up 12.5% from last year. Recruiting in 2022 was so abysmal the national draft balloon was being floated. Increased recruiting can allow the services to be more selective and recruit a service member of the highest caliber. When numbers plummet so do standards. I’ll leave you all to speculate what has changed within the military in the last year to increase recruiting?
Send your veteran-related items to me at 11btwk@gmail.com.