Why do military people shoot themselves?

In the Walkyrie movie, one of the commanders asked for a gun and shot himself in front of his arresting officer. Also, elsewhere, the Samurais were famous of cutting their own heads off. (?) Generals of the Ottoman empire were also known to rather kill themselves than accept defeat. Why do military people kill themselves and how do they figure when to do it? (And why do they like it, I guess?)

 

Don't really know what you're trying to figure out exactly...samurais as far as I know did it like that if they were wounded, and knew they were going to die, as a means of an honorable death....customary if you will. The commander in the movie, well...it's a movie.

Soldiers today may commit suicide for a whole miriad of reasons, however personal they may be. Why does ANYone commit suicide. There is no strait answer for it.

 

For samurais it was a matter of pride. It was more honorable than defeat/capture.

 

Shooting yourself when arrested by the Nazis was a much better way to go. Plus German officers who were arrested and then killed themselves could spare their families who would usually be arrested along with them.

Also it's an honour thing. Until Von Paulus of the 6th Army was captured by the Soviets after his surrender no German field marshal had ever been taken alive by the enemy. His promotion to field marshal by Hitler was actually a punishment as Hitler expected Von Paulus to follow the tradition of field marshals killing themselves, wich Paulus did not do.

 

As for why average soliders shoot themself, I see you've never been to boot camp

 

It is because American soldiers are killing people in countless wars they have no business being in. The guilt eventually gets to them, though it is the idiot politicians and generals that should be feeling guilty.

 

Or because some clueless moron tries to guilt trip them, when they have no idea what they are talking about.

Here is a jolt in reality. The military suicide rate is actually lower then that of the general population, when you take into consideration that the largest bulk of military members are in the primary risk group.

I read all the SIRs for suicide in the military, and almost all have nothing directly to do with the military. I think the end of a relationship is still the number 1 cause.

 

Naturally, young people do not want to kill themselves, even when this is very easy. They have what is needed for this.

Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)
.

 

Could the British unwittingly often be the cause --- matters of Envy and loss of self esteem by your boys and Guilt after unfriendly fire incidents .
Just musing .

 

I spent some time in the military, and suicide for me at least...is a mortal sin. There is no directive or policy in the U.S. Armed Forces that dictates suicide is a viable option in lieu of capture or defeat. Maybe a "CIA" spook is directed to commit suicide to keep secrets and avoid torture if captured...but that's way outside the scope of the average service person...

As Gen. Patton so eloquently stated...at least in the film

"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."

 

Wow, ever before have I seen so much ignorance and stupidity in so few words. Congratulations.

 

Think about it, what valid reason did we have in being in Iraq????????

 

Do I actually have to say it... OK, OK... here we go again...... there is always one in every thread.

 

Whether or not we should be in Iraq has nothing to do with suicide in the Military. I'm gonna tell you, for FREE, how to unf*ck yourself.

Open a desk drawer, dangle your nuts over it then slam it shut. Yes, yes, I understand that it may take some time to find them, but it'll be worth it. That should wake you. Trust me, I'm from the Government and I'm here to help.

 

I sorry, but I can't understand exactly what you mean there.

However, statistically the highest suicide risk is males, ages 20-24. This rate is double that of the age groups before and after that age. And in that range, males are 6 times as likely to commit suicide as females.

And as for "having what is needed", suicide with a military firearm is remarkably rare. Most either use privately owned firearms, drugs, or other ways like accidents.

In my unit since deployment we have had 1 suicide and 3 attempts. The suicide was done by jumping off of the balcony of a 3 floor building. The attempts were 2 cases of pills, and one attempt by vehicle accident.

And none were related directly to the military. 2 were because of a pending divorce, 1 by a pending military justice hearing (he had a positive drug test), and the last was because of the death of his mother and brother in a car accident.

 

And what does one thing have to do with another?

Here is a clue. We had suicide before we went into Iraq. We had suicide by people who never went to Iraq. And we will have suicides in another 40 years, when everybody who had ever been in Iraq is long retired.

This is why I generally hate to "debate" with kneejerls, especially Liberals. To them, everything is political, and if it makes their favorite targets look bad they jump all over it, no matter how stupid the claim is.

 

Sorry, for nor being clear. "Young people" in this context stood for "young soldiers" who carry to guns and ammunition.
.

 

because they made a bad choice in life by joining the military.

 

Most soldiers almost never carry their guns. And about the only time they have ammunition is when they are at the rifle range.

If there was a rash of soldiers killing themselves with their duty weapons, you might have something there. But this is not happening.

 

And I guess to you it would be better if they were living on welfare instead?

 

Folks watch a movie like "A Few Good Men" wherein a Marine officer shoots himself with his service pistol after the dishonor of covering up a discipline issue gone awry. It infers this is common place, or expected almost.

This is the United States, not Japan, there is no bushido code that requires disgraced or dishonored service personnel to kill themselves.

As already alluded to by Mushroom, young men...regardless of military service or not young men are at a higher risk of suicide attempts than other demographics. I don't see any correlation between combat experience causing an increased risk of suicide. We're not dismissing it either and the military is addressing the issue with proactive responses, mainly lessening the stigma associated with seeking and treating mental health problems.

 

Nobody envies limeys.

 

some people feel no pain

 

Everyone in the Military feels pain, most just don't show it.

Hiding all emotions besides anger is something most of us are very good at.