Military Suicides

While only 1 percent of Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan—they account for 20 percent of U.S. suicides; an active duty soldier commits suicide every day on average, about as many as are dying on the battlefield. Mark Thompson, Time Deputy Washington Bureau Chief, and Nancy Gibbs, Time Deputy Managing Editor, discuss the situation, which they call the military's "ultimate asymmetrical war," and one it is losing.  Thompson and Gibbs spoke with two widows of soldiers who killed themselves a continent apart on the same day—March 21, 2012. The army had clear warning signs that these men were at risk. Their article “The War on Suicide” appears in the July 23 issue of Time.