Suicides Amongst Iraqi Vets

[Steve]

4 recruiter suicides lead to Army probe

 

Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson, a strapping Iraq combat veteran, spent the last, miserable months of his life as an Army recruiter, cold-calling dozens of people a day from his strip-mall office and sitting in strangers' living rooms, trying to sign up their sons and daughters for an unpopular war.

 

He put in 13-hour days, six days a week, often encountering abuse from young people or their parents. When he and other recruiters would gripe about the pressure to meet their quotas, their superiors would snarl that they ought to be grateful they were not in Iraq, according to his widow.

 

Less than a year into the job, Henderson â?? afflicted by flashbacks and sleeplessness after his tour of battle in Iraq â?? went into his backyard shed, slid the chain lock in place, and hanged himself with a dog chain.

 

He became, at age 35, the fourth member of the Army's Houston Recruiting Battalion to commit suicide in the past three years â?? something Henderson's widow and others blame on the psychological scars of combat, combined with the pressure-cooker job of trying to sell the war.

 

"Over there in Iraq, you're doing this high-intensive job you are recognized for. Then, you come back here, and one month you're a hero, one month you're a loser because you didn't put anyone in," said Staff Sgt. Amanda Henderson, herself an Iraq veteran and a former recruiter in the battalion.

 

The Army has 38 recruiting battalions in the United States. Patrick Henderson's is the only one to report more than one suicide in the past six years.

 

The Army began an investigation after being prodded by Amanda Henderson and Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Cornyn, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said he will press for Senate hearings.

 

"We need to get to the bottom of this as soon as we can," he said...

[Bangkoktraveler]

That is one job I would hate to do.

[Flashermac]

No one is a recruiter for very long. I think it's a one year assignment. I can't see a single month at it causing a GI to do himself in. Blame it on stress and the war. All the poor guy had to do was hold on for a few more years and he'd have been retired with a fairly decent pension and still young enough to get a good job and earn another one.