While browsing the forums this morning I noticed a post in the Robin Williams thread. Trailboss made mention of the veterans we lose to suicide every day and how he cannot hold a prolonged sadness for someone who lived such a life as Robin Williams did. Personally, I grew up watching Robin Williams's comedy. From Mork And Mindy, to Popeye, The Best of Times, Mrs. Doubtfire and many others. He made me laugh for many years. And it saddens me that there will be no new material (minus some yet unreleased movies)coming from such a comic genius. But that being said, Trailboss is right. Any time a celebrity loses his life, be it suicide or natural causes or an accident or any number of things, it is immediately all over the news. For days. For weeks. Months and years later they still talk about it. I've seen Robin Williams mentioned on the news numerous times already today. But sadly when a soldier or veteran is lost there is only a quick mention. We've all heard the news anchors say something along the lines of... "three soldiers were killed in Afghanistan today as a result of a roadside bomb... now in sports..." And that's all most of us hear about it. Sometimes we may here a short mention of the rise of suicide rates among veterans. But the coverage on such things is truly lacking. Whether it's the news medias faults or our very own faults, the truth of the matter is we don't think about such things nearly as much as we should. We all have our favorite celebrities but the men and women of our armed forces are the true heroes and we should be raising our pipes in their honor far more than we are. Many of them are putting their lives on the line every day. Right this very minute a soldier could be bleeding and dying for all we know. Right this minute a veteran could be holding a gun to his head with his finger on the trigger. If you think about it like that it gives you pause... it makes it real.
After a quick google search I found this site. It's a list of armed forces personnel who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can click on a photo and it will tell you how they died. Some of them go into more detail than others. I could not find a list of veterans lost to suicide, but at least we can look through some of these photos, raise our pipes, and give them our thanks for making the ultimate sacrifice. And perhaps it will also help us remember those who have come home but are still fighting a war in their minds.
http://projects.militarytimes.com/valor/
For those of you outside the United States, feel free to post a similar list for the fallen warriors of your country. They all deserve our respect.
After a quick google search I found this site. It's a list of armed forces personnel who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can click on a photo and it will tell you how they died. Some of them go into more detail than others. I could not find a list of veterans lost to suicide, but at least we can look through some of these photos, raise our pipes, and give them our thanks for making the ultimate sacrifice. And perhaps it will also help us remember those who have come home but are still fighting a war in their minds.
http://projects.militarytimes.com/valor/
For those of you outside the United States, feel free to post a similar list for the fallen warriors of your country. They all deserve our respect.
