A new report on U.S. military deaths contains a stark statistic: An estimated 7,057 service members have died during military operations since 9/11, while suicides among active duty personnel and veterans of those conflicts have reached 30,177 — that’s more than four times as many.
The data highlights the divide between the dangers posed by war and the persistent mental health crisis in not only the military but the country at large.
“Even the very conservative estimate that I came up with, it’s horrifying,” Thomas Suitt, who wrote the paper for Brown University’s Cost of War Project, said in an interview with NPR. “We should really, really care.”
As administration after presidential administration attempts to get a handle on the ongoing suicides by members of the military, the paper highlights some of the reasons why people in the armed forces appear to be taking their lives at higher rates, though experts say the root causes of the crisis remain elusive.
A new report finds an estimated 7,057 service members have died during military operations since 9/11 — while suicides among active-duty personnel and veterans of those conflicts have reached 30,177.https://t.co/oSr7zqVDzS
— NPR (@NPR) June 25, 2021