Suicide Rate Spikes in Vietnam Vets Who Won’t Seek Help
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Good Morning America
Fri, May 3, 2013 1:48 PM EDT
Every Christmas Rudi Gresham, a former combat soldier
in Vietnam, gets a Christmas card from a fellow veteran
who was nearly pushed to the brink of suicide because of
despair.
“The guy was in his late 50s and his wife had left him and
he came down with cancer from Agent Orange, he was broke
and he had to move in with his mom and dad–he didn’t
know where to go from there,” said Gresham, who was then
serving as senior advisor to the Department of Veterans
Affairs under the George W. Bush administration.
“Everything had gone to hell,” said Gresham.
“But I communicated with him.”
Suicide rates among veterans of the Vietnam war are increasing and there is something we can do about it. We are not helpless and need to take action. Suicide rates among adults are up almost 50% among people 50-59 years old. It is not only PTS that increase the likelihood of suicide among veterans but it is the combination of those effects and the isolation that people feel as a result of many other factors. Current economic conditions doesn’t make it any easier. It means that many of our veterans are out of work thus increasing their stress, isolation and despondency as they try to take care of their families.
In this article, according to John Draper of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline “…suicide rates among Vietnam veterans are the highest of any particular group” We really don’t want to wait 40 years and find these same discouraging statistics being recited about the young people who served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. 
You can do something. You can get involved.
Helping our young veterans now will have a profound effect on our nation’s health in the future.
Please consider: