(Washington, D.C.) – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray released the following statement after it was reported suicides in the U.S. military increased to a record 349 in the year 2012:
“This is an epidemic that cannot be ignored. As our newest generation of servicemembers and veterans face unprecedented challenges, today’s news shows we must be doing more to ensure they are not slipping through the cracks. Providing comprehensive and coordinated care to our men and women in uniform is a step forward in making this a reality and I implore the VA and Pentagon to move quickly in implementing such measures as my Mental Health ACCESS Act. With one servicemember dying by suicide almost every single day, and 18 veterans dying by suicide every day, any delay on this is inexcusable.”
Read more information on Senator Murray’s ACCESS Act which was recently signed into law as part of the Defense Authorization Act.
It is as I expected. Our government does not stick to it’s promises. It is like disability. They think everyone is a cheater and make it tough to get the benefits you deserve. The root problem seems to be the V.A. again. I personally know of young people who served overseas and were wounded and just get the run around for months from the V.A. What a damn shame. I really wish there was something I could do to help this. If they wanted welfare they could get it right away.
The Welfare Queens can’t hack it, too bad for them. Saves me tax dollars.
Welfare Queens? Please explain.
I too would like to know what you mean!!
We taxpayers, feed, clothe, and house them. We pay for their medical care and their benefits while they chase ‘terrorists’ and kill goat herders. They have not protected the USA from a legitimate threat in almost 70 years
anonymouse explain this to the parents family ect. to the ones listed below keep in mind these are just iowans you idiotic piece of shit
We taxpayers, feed, clothe, and house them. We pay for their medical care and their benefits while they chase ‘terrorists’ and kill goat herders. They have not protected the USA from a legitimate threat in almost 70 years
(AP) – Iowa soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as reported by the Defense Department, Iowa National Guard and family members:
– Army Spc. David W. Behrle, 20, of Tipton, was killed May 19, 2007, in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. He was among six soldiers who died in the explosion. All six were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood, Texas.
– Army Pfc. Katie Soenksen, 19, of Davenport, was killed in an explosion May 2, 2007, in Baghdad while conducting a security mission. She was part of the 410 Military Police based in Fort Hood, Texas.
– Army Pfc. Brian A. Botello, 19, of Alta, was killed during combat operations April 29, 2007, in Baghdad. He was one of three soldiers with the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, of Fort Carson, Colo., who were killed in the explosion.
– Army Spc. Travis Vaughn, of Cedar Falls, died Feb. 18, 2007, in the crash of a CH-47 Chinook in Afghanistan, according to his stepmother, Kandi Vaughn, of Reinbeck. The military said the Chinook was carrying 22 U.S. service members. Eight American troops were killed. Fourteen people on board survived.
– Army Reserve Spc. Stephen D. Shannon, 21, of Guttenberg, died Jan. 31, 2007, as a result of hostile action in Iraq. He was a combat engineer with the C Company, 397th Engineer Battalion, in Wausau, Wis.
– Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, died Jan. 20, 2007, in the crash of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that killed 11 other soldiers northeast of Baghdad. Gabbard, a member of the Iowa Army National Guard, served as the noncommissioned officer in charge of the National Guard Affairs Team in Baghdad.
– Army Cpl. Jonathan E. Schiller, 20, of Ottumwa, was killed Dec. 31, 2006, when a bomb detonated near his Humvee while on combat patrol in Baqubah, Iraq. Schiller was assigned to the 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.
– Marine Lance Cpl. Clinton J. “C.J.” Miller, 23, of Greenfield, died Dec. 11, 2006, while conducting combat operations in the Al Anbar province in Iraq. Two other Marines were killed. They were assigned to the Marine Wing Support Squadron 373, Marine Wing Support Group 37, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.
– Army Sgt. James Paul Musack, 23, of Riverside, was killed Nov. 21, 2006, in what the military called a non-combat related incident in Samarra, Iraq. He was assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
– Lt. Col. Paul Finken, 40, of Earling, died Nov. 2, 2006, when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Iraq. He was among three soldiers killed in an attack in Baghdad. Finken was based with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. He was an infantry officer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 506th Infantry Regiment.
– Staff Sgt. Scott E. Nisely, 48, of Marshalltown, died Sept. 30, 2006, when his unit came under small arms fire from insurgents near Al Asad, Iraq. He was a member of Iowa National Guard Company C, 1st Battalion 133rd Infantry, in Iowa Falls.
– Spc. Kampha B. Sourivong, 20, of Iowa City, died Sept. 30, 2006, when his came came under small arms fire from insurgents near Al Asad, Iraq. He was a member of Iowa National Guard Company C, 1st Battalion 133rd Infantry, in Iowa Falls.
– Army Pfc. William E. Thorne, 26, of Hospers, died Aug. 24, 2006, when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was a member of the 4th Infantry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas.
– Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie S. Jaenke, a native of Iowa Falls, died June 5, 2006, in Al Anbar province, when the Humvee she was in was struck by a roadside bomb. She was assigned to the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25, based in Fort McCoy, Wis.
– Marine Lance Cpl. William Leusink, 21, of Maurice, was killed May 22, 2006, in a roadside bombing in Al Anbar province northwest of Baghdad. He was a member of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Kaneohe, Hawaii.
– Army Staff Sgt. Mark Wall, 27, of Alden, died April 27, 2006, in Iraq from a non combat-related illness. Wall suffered a cardiac arrest in the dining facility of hit’s base in Mosul. He was assigned to the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and was stationed at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
– Iowa Army National Guard Sgt. Daniel Sesker, 22, of Ogden, was killed April 6, 2006, when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb outside Tikrit in Iraq. Sesker was assigned to the Le Mars-based Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry, which performs reconnaissance and surveillance missions.
– Army Cpl. Antoine McKinzie, 25, of Indianpolis, died March 21, 2006, on a combat security patrol in Baghdad. McKinzie, a native of Des Moines, was a member of the 4th Infantry Division.
– Maj. Stuart Anderson, 44, of Peosta, died Jan. 7, 2006, in a helicopter crash that killed seven other U.S. soldiers and four civilians in Iraq. Anderson was a member of the Army Reserve’s 3rd Corps Support Command in Des Moines.
– Sgt. Nathan Field, 23, of Lehigh, died Jan. 7, 2006, when his Humvee was hit by a civilian vehicle in southern Iraq. He was a member of the Army Reserve’s 4249th Port Security Company in Pocahontas.
– Army Reserve 1st Sgt. Tobias C. Meister, 30, of Jenks, Okla., died Dec. 28, 2005, by a roadside bomb while on patrol south of Asadabad, Afghanistan. Meister, a native of Remsen, was part of the Sand Springs-based 486th Civil Affairs Battalion and was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 321st Civil Affairs Brigade based in San Antonio, Texas.
– Iowa National Guard Spc. Gregory L. Tull, 20, of Pocahontas, died Nov. 25, 2005, when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb near Hit, Iraq. He was assigned to Detachment 1, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery, based in Storm Lake.
– Army Spc. Dustin A. Yancey, 22, or Cedar Rapids, was killed Nov. 4, 2005, in Baghdad when a bomb exploded near the Humvee he was driving. He served in the 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
– Army Pvc. Eric Woods, 26, of Urbandale, died July 9, 2005, in an explosion when he stopped to help a wounded soldier on the side of the road in Iraq. Wood, a medic who moved to Omaha, Neb., was a member of a member of G Troop, 2nd Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based at Fort Carson.
– Spc. Casey Byers, 22, of Schleswig, died June 11, 2005, south of Ramadi. He was on foot patrol near a Humvee that was part of a convoy of 25 vehicles searching for roadside bombs and insurgents when a bomb exploded directly underneath the Humvee. He was a member of Company B 224th Engineering Battalion, based in Ottumwa.
– Army Spc. David Lee Rice, 22, of Sioux City, died April 26, 2005, when the Humvee he was in rolled over after being hit a rocket-propelled grenade Muqdadiyah, Iraq. Rice, who was on his second tour of duty in Iraq, was a fire support specialist with the U.S. Army, based at Fort Riley, Kan.
– Robert J. “Jason” Gore, 23, of Nevada, was among 11 people killed their helicopter was down as it flew from Baghdad to Tikrit on April 21, 2005, Gore was a member of the Iowa National Guard’s 186th Military Police Company, based at Camp Dodge, but was on inactive status as he performed a six-month tour of duty as a security officer for Blackwater USA, a civilian security company.
– Spc. John W. Miller, 21, of West Burlington, died April 12, 2005, in Ramadi, Iraq, when he was shot by a sniper while providing security for route clearing operations. He was a member of the Iowa Army National Guard Company A 224th Engineer Battalion, based in Burlington.
– Army Staff Sgt. Shane Koele, 25, of Hartley, died March 16, 2005, from injuries when a land mine exploded near his Humvee in Shindand, Afghanistan. Koele served with the 212th Military Police Company, Kitzingen, Germany.
– Army Sgt. Donald Griffith Jr., 29, died March 11, 2005, in Telefar, Iraq, during a suicide bombing incident. He was stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash., and was a member of secret operations. His family is from Mechanicsville.
– Sgt. Seth K. Garceau, 27, from Oelwein, Iowa, was killed on March 4, 2005 in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Unit: Army National Guard, 224th Engineer Battalion, Army National Guard, Fairfield, Iowa. Garceau died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany of injuries sustained on Feb. 27 in a Ramadi roadside bomb blast.
– 2nd Lt. Richard B. “Brian” Gienau, 29, of Peoria, Ill., killed Feb. 27, 2005, when the Humvee he was riding in was struck by a homemade bomb as it traveled between Karbala and Ramadi. He was a member of the Iowa Army National Guard Company A 224th Engineer Battalion, based in Burlington.
– Army Sgt. Eric Steffeney, 28, of Waterloo, killed Feb. 23, 2005, when an undetected roadside mine north of Baghdad exploded. He was a member of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit. He was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.
– Army Spc. Dakotah L. Gooding, 21, of Des Moines, died Feb. 13, 2005, when his Humvee accident near Balad, Iraq, during a combat patrol. He was assigned to the Army’s 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
– Marine Cpl. Nathan Schubert, 22, of Cherokee, died Jan. 26, 2005, in a helicopter crash during a sandstorm in western Iraq. Schubert was with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
– Sgt. Thomas Houser, 22, of Council Bluffs, killed Jan. 3, 2005, in fighting near Fallujah. Thomas was a member of the 2nd Force Reconnaissance, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
– Spc. Daryl Davis, 20, of Spencer, killed Nov. 29, 2004, in a motor vehicle accident in Iraq. A former member of the 2168th Transportation Company of the Iowa National Guard based in Sheldon, he transferred to the Florida National Guard’s 144th Transportation Company and was mobilized in February.
– Cpl. Jarrod L. Maher, 21, of Imogene, killed Nov. 12, 2004, as a result of a non-hostile gunshot wound in Abu Ghraib, a western suburb of Baghdad; assigned to 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
– Spc. James C Kearney, III, 22, of Emerson, killed Nov. 1, 2004, when his Humvee was hit by a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire in Afghanistan; assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry, based in Shenandoah.
– Marine Pfc. Nick Skinner, 20, of Davenport, killed Aug. 26, 2004, by gunfire in the southern city of Najaf; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Unit, Platoon 1023 out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
– Marine Pfc. Brandon Sturdy, 19, of Urbandale, killed May 13, 2004, when a homemade bomb blew up near Fallujah, west of Baghdad; assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment.
– Petty Officer 2nd Class Trace W. Dossett, 37, of Orlando, Fla., a Wapello native, killed in a mortar attack May 2, 2004, at Camp Fallujah in Al Anbar province west of Baghdad; assigned to the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14 out of Jacksonville, Fla.
– Cpl. Michael R. Speer, 24, a Kansas native who joined the Marine Corps in Davenport, killed April 9, 2004, in hostile fire in Al Anbar Province, west of Baghdad; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
– Lance Cpl. Benjamin Carman, 20, of Jefferson, killed April 6, 2004, in hostile fire in Al Anbar Province, west of Baghdad; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
– Army Spc. Josh Knowles, 23, of Sheffield, killed Feb. 5, 2004, when his truck was hit by mortar round attack in Baghdad; assigned to the Iowa Army National Guard’s 1133rd Transportation Co. in Mason City.
– Army Sgt. Aaron Sissel, 22, of Tipton, killed Nov. 29, 2003, in an ambush near Husaybah; assigned to the 2133rd Transportation Company of the Iowa National Guard, based in Centerville, Muscatine and Cedar Rapids.
– Army Pvt. Kurt Frosheiser, 22, Des Moines, killed Nov. 8, 2003, when a Humvee he was riding in ran over a homemade bomb west of Baghdad; assigned to the 1st Armored Division; Baumholder, Germany.
– Army Sgt. Paul Fisher, 39, of Cedar Rapids, died Nov. 6, 2003, at a hospital in Hamburg, Germany, following a Nov. 2 missile attack on a Chinook helicopter near Fallujah; assigned to Detachment 1, Company F, 106th Aviation Battalion, Army National Guard, based in Davenport.
– Army Chief Warrant Officer Bruce A. Smith, 41, West Liberty, killed in the Nov. 2, 2003, attack on a Chinook helicopter near Fallujah; assigned to Detachment 1, Company F, 106th Aviation Battalion.
– Army Pfc. David Kirchhoff, 31, Anamosa, died Aug. 14 after suffering heat stroke Aug. 9, 2003, in Iraq; assigned to the Army National Guard’s 2168th Transportation Company, Cedar Rapids.
– Army Pvt. Michael J. Deutsch, 21, of Dubuque, died July 31, 2003, in Baghdad when the armored personnel carrier he was riding in was hit by an explosive round; assigned to Troop C, 1-1 Cavalry.
– Army Pvt. Kenneth A. Nalley, 19, Hamburg, died May 26, 2003, when his Humvee was struck by a heavy truck while escorting a convoy in As Samawah; assigned to the 501st Military Police Company, Wiesbaden, Germany.
– Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeffrey E. Bohr, 39, Ossian, killed April 10, 2003, in a seven-hour battle outside a mosque in downtown Baghdad; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, Alpha Company of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
– Marine Sgt. Bradley S. Korthaus, 29, Davenport, drowned March 24, 2003, while trying to cross the Saddam Canal in southeastern Iraq; assigned to the 6th Engineer Support Battalion.
@veterans-It is just to damn easy for those cowards to post something like this where no one knows their name. What a Chicken S### they are.
Wow, why don’t you just leave this country and go somewhere else!! I wish you would say that to a marine I know he’d wipe the floor with you. You make me sick.
Not very good at writing bear with me please: There are numerous reasons for this issue and most of them stem with local governments all the way to the upper echelon’s of law makers who are elected into office on broken promises to make “better” benifits, ect. for veterans I can tell you first hand that is not the case some examples are:
1) state court judges violate veterans benifits along with the VA for allowing it under USC 38 TITLE 5301 everyday across the US mainly in iowa wisconsin minnesota (our region)
2)veterans coming home are losing rights, custody,visitation, ect. to their children due to disabilities such as PTSD, TBI
For example a drug addict or alcoholic can get ssdi/ssi simply because they are “sick” and cant work BUT a disabled veteran with high disability rating and unemployability status get denied everyday by ssa also civil court judges and child support recovery unit have child support amounts set so high that the diability from va disability which is supposed to be protected is taken leaving the veteran with nothing to support themselves and depending on someone else Judge Richard D Stochl has made the comment ” my court does not recognize USC 38 TITLE 5301″ so how is it a state judge can overlook a FEDERAL law? or for example a friend of mine had 50/50 shared custody which got dropped to 1 hour 1 day per week and his ex wife moved 2 hours away therefore figure this: child support takes over the 50% from va benifits veterans only source of income court doesnt agree with veteran serving overseas having PTSD TBI ect. ex moves two hours away veteran cannot afford to drive the total 4 hour trip for 1 hours of visitation therefore is labels a deadbeat dad and children have mixed feelings about the parent you add all these together mix in some alcohol possibly or even substance abuse or maybe a veteran that just is so depressed because there is nothing that they can do the contemplate suicide seen it heard it and lived it most of my military career from officers to lower enlisted until someone puts a halt to some of these issues then nothing will ever get better for veterans.