More than 30,000 American veterans, service members have died by suicide in post-9/11 wars, report says

A staggering 30,177 American active military personnel and veterans involved in post-9/11 wars are estimated to have died from suicides – a figure at least four times greater than the 7,057 service members who were killed in combat during that time, a new research paper says.

"Unless the U.S. government and U.S. society makes significant changes in the ways we manage the mental health crisis among our service members and veterans, suicide rates will continue to climb," the paper warns. "That is a cost of war we cannot accept."   The paper says the "high suicide rates" are attributed to numerous factors, including "high exposure to trauma, stress, military culture and training, continued access to guns, and the difficulty of reintegrating into civilian life.