Corps Sees Dramatic Spike in Suicides

[unhappycamper]

Corps Sees Dramatic Spike in Suicides
March 11, 2009
Military.com|by Bryan Mitchell

While the Army fights a high-profile battle against suicides, the Marine Corps is quietly upping its effort to combat the malaise following the worst year for suicides in more than a decade.

Forty-one Marines committed suicide in 2008 while another 146 tried but failed. If all had been successful, that's pretty close to an entire infantry company trying to take its own life.

"This is the highest rate of suicide since 1995 and reflects an unacceptable loss of life for the Marine Corps," Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos said in a recent Marine Administrative message. "Each and every Marine is critical to our Corps and our mission."

In response to its spiking suicide rate, the Army had called for a force-wide stand-down day in which suicide prevention training will take center stage.

The Corps, meanwhile, has directed all Marines to participate in a service-wide training sometime this month.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/March-2009/corps-sees-dramatic-spike-in-suicides.html