U.S. Army suicides keep rising

In a worrying trend, the rate of suicides by U.S. Army troops has risen over the past four years. Officials confirmed that last year 89 soldiers killed themselves though are 32 “suspected cases” of suicide within the ranks. In comparison, 60 soldiers committed suicide in 2003, 67 in 2003, and 83 in 2005.

Despite increasing efforts to treat affected soldiers, Army officials claim to be baffled by the increase in suicides:

“We have been perturbed by the rise despite all of our efforts,'' said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general.

Those efforts include more training and education programs, the hiring of more mental health professionals and the addition of screening programs launched after a succession of studies found the military's peacetime health care system overwhelmed by troops coming home from the two foreign wars.

``We know we've been doing a lot of training and education,'' Ritchie told a Pentagon press conference. ``Clearly we need to be doing more.''

The increase in Army suicides coincides with a boost in recruitment efforts of Latinos into the armed forces. In 2004 Defense Department data showed that the recruitment of Latinos grew 15.2% while the number of new black and white recruits decreased by 7.6% and 4.6%, respectively.

The ability to make a career in the Army and the acceleration of the naturalization process for non-citizens in active duty has served as viable reasons to enter the armed forces. Yet more needs to be done to protect the lives of the rising numbers of Latino youth valiantly serving on the frontlines.

Image- TIME

Sources- New York Times, Guardian UK, MSNBC, Reuters, SR.com, latinamericanstudies.org