A Veteran’s Death, the Nation’s Shame
HERE’S a window into a tragedy within the American military: For every soldier killed on the battlefield this year, about 25 veterans are dying by their own hands.That is the opening paragraph of a powerful and important column in this morning's New York Times by Nicholas Kristof. I am actually surprised that it was not featured in the Pundit Roundup.
It is a critical issue:
An American soldier dies every day and a half, on average, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Veterans kill themselves at a rate of one every 80 minutes.There are many of us here who are veterans, including me, although my service was strictly stateside.I have former students who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq and who are confronting the issues that are driving these suicides.
Whether you supported or opposed either Iraq or Afghanistan does not matter. What matters is our