Tragically, our brave U.S. soldiers aren't just dying on the battlefield. Roughly 22 veterans commit suicide every day, a rate even higher than previous estimates, according to a report released by the Department of Veterans Affairs recently.
The Huffington Post provides this devastating infographic that brings the military suicide epidemic into focus:
Infographic by Jan Diehm for The Huffington Post.
Many veterans who commit suicide are over the age of 50, however, the hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have trouble adjusting to civilian life due to the mental and physical toll of war. Couple that with a relentlessly high unemployment rate and you've got a recipe for disaster.
Sadly, some veterans commit suicide before they even return home. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta labeled active military suicides an epidemic after 349 soldiers took their lives in 2012 -- a record high.
Featured image via AFP/Getty
