Sunday, July 14, 2013

UK Military suicides outnumber combat deaths

More soldiers and veterans killed themselves last year than died in battle as investigation finds 29 took their own lives
Research found 50 soldiers and veterans killed themselves last year
The number killed in action in Afghanistan in the same period was 40
MoD spokesman said that suicide among the force remains 'extremely rare'
By PA REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 14 July 2013

The 50 suicides compares with 40 soldiers who died in action in Afghanistan during the same period. A spokesman for the MoD said suicide among members of the Armed Forces remains 'extremely rare' and is lower than comparative rates in the civilian population.

Panorama said it wrote to every coroner in the country to ask for the names of soldiers and veterans who killed themselves last year and also analysed newspaper reports of coroners' inquests.

Lance Sergeant Dan Collins who survived a bomb blast while serving in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in 2009, killed himself while still a serving soldier on New Year's Eve 2011 after suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the BBC reported.

His mother Deana told Panorama her son was a 'victim of war' and his name should be added to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire which honours the military casualties of every conflict since WWII.

'Soldiers with PTSD are exactly the same. They're victims of war and they should be treated exactly the same,' she said.
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