A number that stopped me and numbers you should know

In researching a recent post on my Substack Commentary page, I came across a New Yorker essay that included this paragraph: “Brown University’s Costs of War project estimates that post-9/11 American military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and Pakistan killed nearly a million people between 2001 and 2023, including more than four hundred thousand civilians. Non-civilian deaths include more than seven thousand U.S. service members, more than eight thousand military contractors, more than twelve thousand allied troops, and more than 28,000 U.S. service members and veterans who have died by suicide.”

That last part stopped me cold and hard. I knew the number was high — far higher than veteran suicides recorded in the aftermath of World War II — but now count myself among the vast majority of Americans who likely missed the scope of that horror. Other reports put the toll from suicides even higher.

Either way, the disconnect is due, in part, to the vast majority of us having no personal relation to the military. Since the end of the draft in 1973, in the Vietnam era, one of the great divides in American society has been the one between civilian and military life. So most of us do not know — or prefer not to know — the human cost of our long military operation in Iraq.

Fortunately, the suicide rate for veterans enrolled in a health care plan has fallen in recent years, but it rose for veterans not enrolled.

Frank Starr, a retired Sun editor, asked on Facebook for some help getting the word out to veterans experiencing a crisis of any grade: “Twenty-two veterans succumb to their struggles daily. May I request that two friends or family members copy and repost this message? Someone’s life may depend on it.”

So here goes, numbers you should know:

Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988 then press 1

Veteran’s Hotline: 800-273-8255

If you know some who needs help, encourage them to get it. And consider passing this message along.