Them by their families you know by their by their communities or whether its just basically something they have come to on their own but you transgressed that youve committed an act so by also a pouring in your own to your own senses that you are no longer the person you once were or the person that you thought you would be. Military veterans make up 8 percent of u. S. Adult population but account for 13. 5 percent of the adult suicides in the United States data from Veterans Affairs shows among veterans that had deployed to iraq and afghanistan suicide rates are 4. 00 to 10. 00 times higher than their civilian peers but even these statistics may be understating suicide rates among combat veterans in a 2015 story a marine corps infantry unit that was tracked after coming home from war saw suicide rates among its young men for. Times greater than other young male veterans and 14 times that of civilians this high rate of suicide in veterans leads to a total number of deaths of combat tro
Service members killed in those wars since 2001 why is suicide such an epidemic among combat veterans from our wars in the middle east joining me to discuss veteran suicides is matthew hoh who served as a Marine Corps Company commander in iraq in a later as a state Department Official in afghanistan resigned in protest over the escalation of the war. So matthew and i spent 20 years covering war i didnt carry a weapon and thats an important distinction but certainly dealt with p. T. S. D. As i know you have lets 1st just explain what p. T. S. D. Does to you and i know youve fought this battle too. Yeah absolutely chris and thank you for having me on and i think that point you made is something you know well get into about the difference. As a perpetrator of war as say i was as opposed to somebody who has taken part in the war as you were but werent was not a perpetrator of the violence and i dont i want to know is it a national thats a very important distinction which ive always very ye
States data from Veterans Affairs shows among veterans that had deployed to iraq and afghanistan suicide rates are 4. 00 to 10. 00 times higher than their civilian peers but even these statistics may be understating suicide rates among combat veterans in a 2015 story a marine corps infantry unit that was tracked after coming home from war saw suicide rates among its young men 4 times greater than other young male veterans and 14 times that of civilians this high rate of suicide in veterans leads to a total number of deaths of combat troops at home that surpasses the totals killed in the war in 2011 an investigative piece in the bay citizen that examined Public Health records found that 1000 california veterans under the age of 35 died from 2005 to 2008 that is 3 times the number killed in iraq and afghanistan during the same period close to 2 af. And iraq veterans die by suicide each day on average meaning the estimated 7300 veterans who have killed themselves since just 2009 after com
You live there you can drive your car but for the most part some of the streets of been closed to allow you to get on your bike or take a walk without having to worry about cars. Gasia mikaelian, we will start with you. You get out on your bikes. The boys have their little bikes they race like maniacs up and down our hilly neighborhood. Usually load up the bikes and take him to a flat pass if we want to do an afternoon for some right. The hills in our neighborhood are great for walking. Half an hour around the neighborhood will get me sweating. I think it is all about making the best of where you live. I know, mike, you are lucky, up in the north bay. You are probably still not going to the beaches because you dont live that close, do you . Not at all. Youre going to have to maybe import some sand and throw it in the backyard. No beaches for us. We are still doing bike rides. I used to run track so i started running again. I hate running, i dont know why did it. I am feeling it. Its pa
Thank you for your service past and present to the country and to fellow veterans. We are honored to work alongside you. That is exactly what we will do over the next few days. We will be working together. Not in a typical way and not our daytoday work. You will have an opportunity to pause and take a step back from the day to day grind and challenges. All of those things we struggle with every day and think about what we are doing and why. Are going to think about what we know and what we dont know. Those of you know me know that formal remarks are not my specialty. I want to show hands, how many of you that when we set it will be data, where like all. A show hands. It is okay. I am a selfprofessed data geek. I had that feeling to. I want to talk to you about why data is important. Sometimes it feels abstract and disconnected from reality. Sometimes it is dry and boring. Not really connected to the veterans we serve every day. We are here to serve veterans but data can help you we can