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11/27/12, "In suicide epidemic, military wrestles with prosecuting troops who attempt it," McClatchy
"Last year, the 301 known military suicides accounted for 20 percent
of U.S. military deaths. From 2001 to August 2012, the U.S. military
counted 2,676 suicides.
It’s also becoming more common among
veterans. Though timely numbers are elusive, the Department of Veterans
Affairs reported that 3,871 veterans who were enrolled in VA care killed
themselves in 2008 and 2009.
Active-duty members of the military
who succeed in killing themselves are treated as having died honorably.
Active-duty members who try and fail may be prosecuted under the Uniform
Code of Military Justice if the suicide attempt is deemed conduct that
causes “prejudice to good order and discipline” or has a “tendency to
bring the service into disrepute.”
“You don’t think people will
think less well of the military if people are killing themselves?” Judge
Margaret A. Ryan asked rhetorically.
The Marine Corps recorded
163 suicide attempts last year and 157 attempts so far this year,
according to the service’s Suicide Prevention Program. Statistics for
other branches weren’t immediately available. Prosecutions are
infrequent, but they do occur."...via Drudge
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