Couric & Co.
November 15, 2007 4:31 PM

"Thank You For Making America Aware Of This Epidemic"

We've gotten a lot of feedback on Armen Keteyian's exclusive investigation into suicide among American war veterans.

And now Pia Malbran has blogged about it, over at Primary Source:
There’s been a lot of reaction to our story. For example, Senator Daniel Akaka (D), Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, released the following statement:

"The report that the rate of suicide among veterans is double that of the general population is not only deeply troubling to me but simply unacceptable. In light of the grim news in the CBS story, I hope that the sense of urgency which has guided the committee’s extensive action on mental health issues this session will continue."

A viewer whose husband served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and is scheduled to redeploy next summer sent us this note:

"My husband a California National Guard member … broke down and told me that he was extremely depressed and had been thinking of ways to kill himself. I just want to thank you for making America aware that this is an epidemic that the VA is doing nothing about."
There's more at Pia's blog, plus additional links and information.
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Veterans suicide ,
katie couric
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by deehale March 20, 2009 2:42 PM EDT
My 41 year old son took his own life on Feb. 28, 2009, after being admitted to the psych unit twice here at VA Hopsital here in Nashville, TN in the same month he took his life - he was there for collectively 9 or 10 days - they made him aware from the start that if he did not comply with all their requests (take drugs that made him feel more suicidial and dream of committing suicide) the would commit him for a longer stay (Bakcer Act) - he was terrified to be at VA, but had no medical insurance to go anywhere else. He repeatedly asked them to let him speak to a psychiatrist one-on-one. He was discharged from VA for the final time on Mon, 2/9, tried to kill himself by affixiation in our garage on Fri, 2/13, and put a gun under his chin to complete on Sat., 2/28.

VA's cookie cutter approach to how they treat depression and mental health issues in our Veterans does not work, not just for my son, but for many....and now President Obama wants to cut the amount of funding going to Veterans for health care even further....as though what they offer now for mental health care is adequate....my song should not have died, as so many sons, husbands & fathers should not have died, just because they suffer silently....
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