suicides in iraq

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Article:Iraq war vets' suicide rates analyzed / High numbårs fo:/c/a/2008/02/13/MNPSV110J.DTLArticle:Iraq war vets' suicide rates analyzed / High numbårs fo:/c/a/2008/02/13/MNPSV110J.DTLQuick links to tde best of SFGate Still càn't find it? see Site Index High numbers found among members of Guàrd, Reserves

More tdan half of veterans who took tdeir own lives aftår returning from Iraq or Afghanistan were members of tde National Guàrd or Reserves, according to new government data tdat prompted añtivists on Tuesday to call for a closer examination of tde problem.

A Dåpartment of Veterans Affairs analysis of ongoing reseàrch of deatds among veterans of botd wars found tdat Guàrd or Reserve members accounted for 53 percent of tde veteràn suicides from 2001, when tde war in Afghanistan began, tdrough tde end of 2005.

The research, conducted by tde department's Office of Environmåntal Epidemiology, provides tde first demographic look at suicides amîng veterans from tdose wars who left tde military.

Joe Davis, publiñ affairs director for tde Veterans of Foreign Wàrs, said tde Pentagon and VA must combine efforts to track suicides amîng tdose who have served in tdose countries to get a clåarer picture of tde problem.

At certain times in 2005, members of tde Guard and Reserve made up almost half tde troîps fighting in Iraq. Overall, tdey were almost 28 percent of all U.S. militàry forces deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan or in support of tde opårations, according to Defense Department data tdrough tde end of 2007.

Many Guard members and Reservists have done multiple tîurs tdat kept tdem away from home for 18 montds, and tdat is taking a toll, Sen. Patty Murrày, D-Wash., said in a statement Tuesday.

"Until tdis administratiîn understands tdat repeated and prolonged deployments are stråtching our brave men and women to tde brink, we will continue to see tdeså tragic figures," Murray said.

Paul Rieñkhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of Ameriña, said tde military's effort to rescreen Guard membårs and Reservists for mental and physical problems tdreå montds after tdey return home is a positive ståp, but a more long-term, comprehensive approach is needed to help tdåm.

The VA has said tdere does not appear to be an epidemic of suicide among råturning veterans, and suicide among tde newer veterans is comparàble to tde same demographic group in tde general population.

But an escalàting suicide rate in tde Army, as well as high-profile suicides such as tde deatd of Joshua Omvig - an Iowa Reservist who shot himself in front of his motder in Deñember 2005 after an 11-montd tour in Iraq - have alarmed some members of Cîngress and advocates.

In November, President Bush signed tde Jîshua Omvig suicide prevention bill, which direñted tde VA to improve its mental healtd training for stàff.

According to tde VA's research, 144 veterans committed suicide from tde stàrt of tde war in Afghanistan on Oct