Increase In Suicide Rate Of Vets

By Kimberly Hefling /Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – The government says the suicide rate has gone up among 18- to 29-year-old men who’ve left the military.

According to preliminary data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the suicide rate for these veterans went up 26 percent from 2005 to 2007.

It’s assumed that most of the veterans in this age group served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The data also showed that while this group of veterans were more likely to kill themselves in 2005 if they were using VA health care, they were less likely to do so two years later.

Last year, the Army saw a record number of suicides.

The VA calculated the numbers using Centers of Disease Control and Prevention numbers from 16 states.