By Ann Gerhart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 1, 2010; 10:31 AM
[Fort Hood's leaders have tried nearly everything to stop the suicides. There are support groups and hotlines, counseling sessions and Reiki healing therapies, and strict assessment guidelines for commanders.
But the soldiers keep killing themselves. This past weekend, four more were dead at the Texas post, all of them decorated veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, three of them sergeants, two of them fathers of young children.
All four appear to have shot themselves, according to preliminary reports gathered for the Army's Suicide Prevention Task Force. Their deaths, which did not appear to be related, came within a few days of a visit from the Army's vice chief of staff, who reiterated his urgent plea for hurting soldiers to seek help.
"Every one of these is tragic," said Maj. Gen. William Grimsley, who commands Fort Hood, the nation's largest Army post. "It's personally and professionally frustrating as a leader."
"It came out of nowhere," said Spec. Dana Blomquist, 23, whose former squad leader, Sgt. Timothy Ryan Rinella, 29, was found dead in nearby Copperas Cove, Tex., on Saturday. "He always had a smile on his face. He cared for so much for his soldiers and people that weren't even his soldiers. There are so many people who are feeling guilty, but he never really showed any of the normal signs of people needing help."
So far, 104 Army troops have killed themselves this year, a rate that eclipses the one in the civilian world. The rate at Fort Hood, where 14 suicides already are confirmed this year and six other deaths are under investigation, is nearly four times that of the civilian population.
Grimsley said he saw no indication that the increase in suicides is related to November's mass shooting, when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire inside the post and killed 13 people.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/30/AR2010093006646.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 1, 2010; 10:31 AM
[Fort Hood's leaders have tried nearly everything to stop the suicides. There are support groups and hotlines, counseling sessions and Reiki healing therapies, and strict assessment guidelines for commanders.
But the soldiers keep killing themselves. This past weekend, four more were dead at the Texas post, all of them decorated veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, three of them sergeants, two of them fathers of young children.
All four appear to have shot themselves, according to preliminary reports gathered for the Army's Suicide Prevention Task Force. Their deaths, which did not appear to be related, came within a few days of a visit from the Army's vice chief of staff, who reiterated his urgent plea for hurting soldiers to seek help.
"Every one of these is tragic," said Maj. Gen. William Grimsley, who commands Fort Hood, the nation's largest Army post. "It's personally and professionally frustrating as a leader."
"It came out of nowhere," said Spec. Dana Blomquist, 23, whose former squad leader, Sgt. Timothy Ryan Rinella, 29, was found dead in nearby Copperas Cove, Tex., on Saturday. "He always had a smile on his face. He cared for so much for his soldiers and people that weren't even his soldiers. There are so many people who are feeling guilty, but he never really showed any of the normal signs of people needing help."
So far, 104 Army troops have killed themselves this year, a rate that eclipses the one in the civilian world. The rate at Fort Hood, where 14 suicides already are confirmed this year and six other deaths are under investigation, is nearly four times that of the civilian population.
Grimsley said he saw no indication that the increase in suicides is related to November's mass shooting, when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire inside the post and killed 13 people.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/30/AR2010093006646.html