Suicide And War
These figures didn?t surprise me except in the sense they were lower than I would have predicted. Men/women kill themselves especially in times of war. War is insanity. There is nothing normal about it. If you can name something normal about war, please send me an email. Hiding behind buildings and walls, and shooting at another human being is abnormal. It is normally something you don?t expect to happen on a daily basis unless you?re a cop in D.C.
There are no clear statistics referencing suicide among soldiers serving in Vietnam; however, estimates of Vietnam veteran suicides run in the thousands. Depending on what study you choose, figures indicate that any number between 5,000 and 10,000 veterans of the Vietnam War killed themselves within five years of their discharge from service.
Is that a staggering number? Not really. If you consider some of the many myths about Vietnam (some stating that as many as 200,000 suicides resulted from the war), five to ten thousand doesn?t seem all that far-fetched. Although, philosophically speaking, any suicide is too many, but as I mentioned earlier war is full of insanity. No man or woman can predict how they will behave or react in an insane situation.
Suicide is a man-thing. It is highest among white males over fifty. So, in that sense, suicide by young Vietnam and Iraqi veterans is disconcerting. Statistically, they are an anomaly among peers, but then again, suicide is an anomaly among cultures. It is not a common practice.
Do these figures prove that war can cause suicide? Probably. What they can unquestionably prove is that war brings out the worst or best in people. For every suicide, there is a good story, a heroic story. The good stories often get lost in the media blitz and hoopla. I can assure you, though, every soldier that lives or dies in a war is a hero to their families and friends. My friends, who lost their lives in Vietnam are all heroes to me and will never be forgotten.
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