Project Statement
Somewhat unsurprisingly, a comprehensive study of mental-health risks showed that members of the US Armed Forces have a significantly higher likelihood of developing mental illnesses than the general population, with some conditions, like post-traumatic stress disorder, appearing more than a full order of magnitude more often in military members.1 A 2012 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study cautiously stated that 18-22 veterans commit suicide per day.2 Although the report is often cited by a number of lawmakers and veterans advocacy groups, decontextualization places a significant portion of the interest on veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.3 This is further perpetuated by the younger veterans, of which “[o]ne in two veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars say they know a fellow service member who attempted or committed suicide.”4
The average age of male veterans that committed suicide between 1999 and 2010 was 59.6 years old, much older than the overall civilian population, and well outside the average age of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.5 There is a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans that are veterans from age 55 on, peaking at ages 85-89 with 80 percent of surviving men having served as some point (women of all ages show between 1 to 3 percent).6 A lack of sufficient research and reliable statistics has made the topic of veteran suicide difficult to adequately analyze.7 The VA dedicated itself to supporting “the safety and well-being of our nation's Veterans of all eras,” and has increased their suicide risk assessments and prevention efforts.8 While that is not necessarily a change from previous policies, this is one of the first reports to both identify older veterans as having continuing serious mental health issues and to catch wide-spread attention. Lack of adequate contextualization has generated a narrative that focuses attention on the wrong generations.
This comes at a time when long-standing Veterans Service Organizations, like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States of America, are finding the ever-widening generation gap too difficult to cross.9 Younger veterans are not joining the ranks of veterans 30-years their senior for a number of reasons, but central to them is a sense that VSOs are out of touch with the needs and desires of the post-9/11 servicemembers. Despite the foundational goals of these groups, to care for both present and future veterans and their families,10 the older VSOs may be lapsing into irrelevancy as “military personnel have largely been spared from budget cuts … because of the overwhelming public support for the troops.”11
