We should be ashamed - do you know that we've, that is Australia, lost 17 young service men and women to suicide since the beginning of this year alone. We are running at almost one death per week. If these were the statistics in Afghanistan itself Australians would be outraged, yet it would appear we are letting this happen under our very noses in our communities without question.
John Cantwells book quotes a ridiculous figure of around 500% more US service men and women have committed suicide than the total US war death toll in Afghanistan. I'll have to check that figure - I know it just blew my mind when I saw it. I have heard that the figure in the US stands at around 22 per day, so the 500% may just be correct.
So if you know any returned service men and women - who've served in ANY theatre of war PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep a caring eye on them. Keep your ears open and be ready to listen when they need to talk. Find out about the services that the Defence Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs offer. Approach your RSL Sub Branches, find out what support they offer. There are many Non-Government Organisations out there providing excellent support services to our returned service people. You'll often hear these organisations described as ESO's - Ex-Service Organisations.
I don't care if you don't agree with our participation in a particular theatre of war, these young people are OUR young people. Young Australians, our friends and family. For goodness sake make an effort to care for them, they do it every single day for us.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-06/veterans-speak-out-against-department-of-veterans-affairs/4738088
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