Apr 21, VCS Update: Call Congress to Support HR 952, and Reduce Veteran Suicides

VA opened up a suicide prevention hotline that currently averages 220 calls a day and performs 6 rescues – that’s a total of more than 100,000 calls and 2,600 rescues. . . . VCS thanks the hard working VA staff for saving lives every day.   More needs to be done.  This is why VCS urges our members to take action and call Congress and ask them to pass HR 952, the “COMBAT PTSD” introduced by Chairman John Hall.

April 21, 2009 – Veterans for Common Sense was the first group in the country to raise the alarm about the growing suicide epidemic among all of our Nation’s service members and veterans.

VCS worked with CBS Evening News for several months to uncover and report this very serious crisis in November 2007.

VA’s refusal to provide prompt and high-quality treatment for suicidal veterans caused VCS and Veterans United for Truth to sue VA in July 2007, a case that is now on appeal.

Our landmark lawsuit uncovered the infamous e-mails from a top VA official ordering employees to conceal the staggering number of veterans attempting suicide each month.

Thanks in part to our lawsuit, VA opened up a suicide prevention hotline that currently averages 220 calls a day and performs 6 rescues – that’s a total of more than 100,000 calls and 2,600 rescues. This is one example of how VCS helps our veterans at the national level.

We’ve seen this country take great strides to help our veterans. VCS thanks the hard working VA staff for saving lives every day.

However, we are saddened the tragic suicide epidemic continues. Repeated deployments – nearly 40 percent of our troops have deployed to war twice or more – are stretching our troops too thin.

For some men and women suffering from PTSD, getting an order to deploy may be the final straw. Veterans for Common Sense wants the military and VA to investigate the role a deployment / re-deployment notice may play in triggering PTSD and suicide.

Last month, General Chiarelli said: “The rational person might think the more deployments, the more likely you are to commit suicide, but we saw exactly the opposite” (Salon, Mar. 5, 2009).

In contrast to the comment by General Chiarelli, the U.S. District Court reached a different conclusion in June 2008: “Dr. Gerald Cross, the Deputy Under Secretary for Health in the VA, testified that the high rates of PTSD among Iraq veterans are the result of various factors, including multiple deployments, the inability to identify the enemy, the lack of real safe zones, and the inadvertent killing of innocent civilians.”

Here are four case studies indicating that a notice of a future re-deployment may be a trigger for sucide among some veterans:

Case 1: Army Specialist
Deployed: Iraq, 2004 – 2005
Notice to redeploy: May 2008
Suicide: One week later

Case 2: Army Sergeant
Deployed: Afghanistan, 2004 – 2005
Notice to redeploy: November 2006
Suicide: One month later

Case 3: Marine Lance Corporal
Deployed: Iraq Invasion, 2003
Notice to redeploy: June 2004
Suicide: Three weeks later

Case 4: Army Specialist
Deployed: Iraq, 2005 – 2006
Notice to redeploy: August 2007
Suicide: One week later

VCS works hard to change rules at VA to allow veterans to recieve faster medical care and disability benefits for post traumatic stress disorder. This is why we urge our members to take action and call Congress and ask them to pass HR 952, the “COMBAT PTSD” introduced by Chairman John Hall.

This bill may save lives by improving access to VA mental healthcare.

Veterans for Common Sense wants to thank all of our members for their committed support of America’s veterans.

With the help of all of you, we are able to make real changes in people’s lives.

Please make a gift to VCS today so we can continue our important work together.

Thank you,

Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense

VCS provides advocacy and publicity for issues related to veterans, national security, and civil liberties. VCS is registered with the IRS as a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity, and donations are tax deductible.