3 Sailors Hurt in Apparent Suicide Attempt at Naval Air Station

[Rose Siding]

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A sailor who was apparently trying to commit suicide Thursday shot and wounded himself and two superiors as they struggled for the gun in an effort to stop him, the base commander said.

The sailor's weapon went off as they struggled, grazing both superiors and injuring the sailor, said Capt. John McCormack, the commander at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base at Carswell.

The gunman was in critical condition with a single gunshot wound to the neck; his supervisors received stitches and were expected to be discharged Thursday from the hospital, said Chief Petty Officer Eric Clement. A single bullet injured all three men, he said.
....
Gates to the base, formerly known as Carswell Air Force Base, were closed briefly following the afternoon shooting but later reopened. Emergency vehicles could be seen surrounding a building near an air traffic control tower on the base.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120100966.html

The article doesn't say if this sailor had served in Iraq, but Iraq vets are facing horrible odds. From a report last month:

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have left more soldiers diminished by post-traumatic stress disorder than the Department of Veterans Affairs has ever seen before. And that has experts worried.

"The suicide rate in service - where there's clear evidence killed themselves - is three times higher than Vietnam," said Dr. George Arana, director of mental health at Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston. "We're seeing an almost two to three times higher rate of within six months of them coming back from war."

Because symptoms sometimes don't show up for years, Arana said there's concern it could be as much a five times higher down the road.

"As the vets get older, the memories of war come out of nowhere and start to affect their lives," he said. "The number of Vietnam vets that registered for care in the two years after Sept. 11, 2001, increased by 150 percent."

A recent Veterans Health Administration quarterly report estimates 15,000 veterans returning from the Middle East have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder at Veterans Affairs medical centers, said Tonya Lobbestael, public affairs officer at the Charleston medical center.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/13139332.htm

[tlsmith1963]

1. Geez...

It's happening all over again. I can remember those messed-up people who came back from Vietnam. Now, we're going to have a new generation of them. And all because leaders can't get it into their heads that war should only happen as a last resort. It's awful. It destroys people. Leaders should think long & hard before they declare war.

Tammy

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Suicides were fairly common when I was in.

'61 - '65. There was a stretch of highway between LA and Pendleton that was notorious for marines ramming other cars head on to snuff themselves. One guy in my squadron blew his brains out. Heard about many more.

[afdip]

3. i'm a life member of disabled american veterans (dav) and we

are already seeing increasing #'s of iraqi vets in the ptsd group @ the VA clinic here in myrtle beach (home of the 2nd article).

[unhappycamper]

4. So much for honoring the veteran.

Republican Budget Cuts Target Veterans…again
<snip>
Cuts in benefits for veterans was rationalized last January by Pentagon spokesperson David Chu who told the Wall Street Journal that the cost of veterans' benefits is "hurtful" to national security. The Pentagon feels that spending to care for veterans shifts money away from other pressing needs such as more weapons.
<snip>

VA To Review Over 72,000 PTSD Claims, Possible Cuts Pending, Oregon Vets Could Be Hit Hard
WASHINGTON, DC— A bipartisan group of 54 House members joined U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) to urge their colleagues to stop the Veterans Administration (VA) from unfairly cutting a veteran’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compensation. The VA is preparing to review 72,000 individual cases of veterans who were rated at 100 percent disabled and unemployable within the last five years due to PTSD. The review comes after a Department of Defense Inspector General report found that the number of 100 percent PTSD ratings granted to veterans varied widely among regions across the country. Oregon is among the states with the highest compensation ratings.


Google: ptsd+cuts

[Mutley]

5. But this is a GOOD war! We MUST stay the course!

:sarcasm:


:cry:

How many more people have to die?

[flordehinojos]

6. wow! sounds like someone doesn't wanna fight bush's war.

too bad he did not choose CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION over SUICIDAL STOP THE WORLD, I WANNT TO GET OFF THIS COWBOY'S DAMN WAR!