Lynn C. Woolsey: “More than 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, that dramatically…”

“More than 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, that dramatically understates the human cost of this war, a war that is now nearly 11 years old. A recent Time magazine cover story details the silent killer of our brave servicemembers--the tragically high suicide rate among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and other members of the service. The article describes how one Army helicopter pilot, who had flown 70 missions in Iraq over 9 months--70 missions over 9 months--waited on the phone for 45 minutes to speak to the Pentagon crisis line when he was in severe distress. The last communication his wife received from him was a text in which he said, ``Still on hold.'' Several hours later, she found him in their bedroom with a fatal gunshot wound to the neck. A second victim, an Army doctor who wasn't deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, wrote an email to his wife minutes before hanging himself. It read: Please always tell my children how much I love them, and most importantly, never, ever let them find out how I died. Mr. Speaker, we can no longer deny the devastating mental health impact of repeated deployments, of continued exposure to explosions, horror, carnage and destruction. Of course, in an institution like the U.S. military that values courage and toughness, there's a reluctance to admit to depression and anxiety. Sometimes that manifests itself in the worst possible ways.…”