U.S. Soldiers Nine Times More Likely to Die by Suicide than in Action: Pentagon

Washington Examiner

U.S. soldiers are overwhelmingly more likely to die by suicide than in combat, according to data from the Pentagon.

A five-year study from the Defense Health Agency, from 2014 to 2019, found suicide as the leading cause of death among active-duty soldiers. Compared to 96 combat deaths over the period, 883 soldiers died by suicide — nine times more. The second leading cause of death was accidents, with 814 deaths.

According to figures obtained by USA Today, the suicide rate among active-duty soldiers has climbed significantly since the end of the study in 2019, when the suicide rate was 28.8 per 100,000 soldiers. It rose to a record high in 2023, with 36.6 deaths per 100,000. The rate for 2024 is 31.8 per 100,000 through May, according to the outlet. So far, 55 soldiers have died by suicide this year.

READ THE FULL STORY

More Breaking News

Latest News

Trump Leads Harris, McCormick Ties Casey in Pollster’s Final Pennsylvania Survey Before Election Day

Nov 5, 20243 min read

Former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris in the final poll of Pennsylvania voters published by Emerson College Polling prior to Election Day, while the pollsters found the race between Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick and Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is now tied. Published on Monday, the poll found Trump narrowly leading Harris with the support of 49.3 percent of Pennsylvania voters, with the vice president trailing with the support of 48.4 percent of the commonwealth's voters.

Pennsylvania County Gives Update on Probe of Suspicious Applications, Says 17 Percent Are Fraudulent

Nov 5, 20242 min read

Lancaster County Commissioner Ray D’Agostino on Monday updated voters on an investigation into 2,500 suspicious voter registration forms that were flagged to the county's elections board last month, confirming that 17% of the forms so far are fraudulent. A total of four Pennsylvania counties are investigating possible fraudulent voter and mail-in ballot applications in the final spin into Election Day. Those counties are Cambria County, Lancaster County, Monroe County, and York County. York and Lancaster both uncovered thousands of potentially fraudulent applications, while Cambria and Monroe saw less than 50 each.