Thursday, May 05, 2005

The rush of survival?

AMERICAN soldiers who survive Iraq and Afghanistan are dying in record numbers on roads in the United States, driving at speed and ignoring standard safety precautions because of a newfound sense of invincibility. The latest figures show a 41 per cent increase in the deaths of servicemen in accidents involving cars and motorcycles, compared with the average for the past three years.

[...]

During the same period, 22 soldiers have died in motorcycle accidents, about three times the typical rate for the whole year, according to J. T. Coleman, the spokesman for the Army Combat Readiness Centre, a government agency that collects crash statistics.

[...]

For veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, driving at speed becomes like a drug — “the newest crack out there”, one staff sergeant told USA Today. Eighty-three soldiers have died in private-vehicle crashes in the US since October 1. Many were fresh from the battlefield, determined to have fun, live fast and sustain the rush of survival, army safety experts said.

  Times Online article

And/or commit suicide, which numbers are also far higher for soldiers than at any other time in military history.

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