SUICIDE - the act of a human intentionally causing his or her own death.
Yes that is the definition but every case is different especially when it is regarding soldiers. I read an interesting article on CNN’s website about a ban on military condolence letters regarding soldiers who committed suicide while on duty. According to reporter, Adam Levine, the Obama administration released a statement stating that condolence letters will finally be released to the next of kin of all soldiers who were a victim of suicide while on military duty. Apparently there has been a ban on these letters for several previous administrations. The current administration's view on military condolences finally started to change once a father of one of the fallen soldiers wrote a letter to President Obama and the Army chief of staff expressing his disappointment towards the administration for not recognizing his son’s effort of fighting for his country.
This article hit me hard after reading it. I personally find it shocking that the government previously refused these letters to the grieving families but yet would not provide enough available resources like counseling or routine psychological evaluations for these troubled soldiers prior to their demise. They fought for their country and were subjected to terrible conditions, which are both mentally destructive and physically exhausting, and up until now the government had the “thanks for nothing” attitude. It is a good to know that things are starting to change for the better because a life is a life and should be honored no matter how it was lost.
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