I read an article from Yahoo this morning and it has been bothering me all day. The article is about the climbing rate of suicides amongst American soldiers. In an excerpt from the article it says :
"Since the beginning of the global war on terror, the Army has lost over 580 soldiers to suicide, an equivalent of an entire infantry battalion task force," the Army said in a suicide prevention guide to installations and units that was posted in mid-March on the site.
An "EQUIVALENT OF AN ENTIRE INFANTRY BATTALION TASK FORCE"!?!?!?!
The number of documented suicides for 2007, according to the article, is up from previous years with 115 suicides!
These are our men and women! The protectors of our freedoms. You often hear people asking for prayer or praying for our service men and women- for their safety, for their strength, for their skills and success in their missions, and of course- their safe return home.
Can you imagine what this war must be like for them? We are disturbed by pictures we see on the news- but our soldiers are there- in those pictures-seeing this violence first hand! I have family members who went off to previous wars and returned safely- but they were never the same. I can not imagine being away from family and friends, away from my country, my town-all the while fighting a war against terror in order to protect your own- even people you have never met. Some people who don't even agree with what you do! Our soldiers are taking their own lives as opposed to spending one more day living in the hell of fighting a war. Whether you believe in this war or not- these men and women are fighting for our freedoms and our country- our safety!!!!!!! They NEED our prayers.
I THINK WE ALL NEED TO TAKE THE TIME TO PRAY FOR OUR MILITARY'S MENTAL WELL-BEING AND EMOTIONAL STRENGTH!!!!!!!! I think that is the very least we can do.
If you would like to read the full article you can go to:
~Heather
* the photo used for this post is from www.september11news.com
2 comments:
Heather, this is a sad situation, but wonderfully written post! I will include our soldiers in my prayers...Thank you for the reminder! I usually get all my news from Yahoo! "smiles"...it seems the TV stations are a couple of days behind Yahoo!
I'll have to check your aunt and uncles's Etsy shop out! It looks like they are very talented! ..but I believe you inherited a collaboration of all the talents...you are a jack of all trades...very talented yourself! Hugs, Rhonda ;)
It's a huge tragedy. I wish people knew how hard their jobs really are. Great post!
hugs,
rue
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