Pentagon report shows 41% increase in suicides among active-duty troops from 2015 - 2020
CBSN
A total of 580 U.S. service members, including 384 active duty troops, died of suicide in 2020, according the Pentagon's most recent report, up from the 504 deaths recorded in 2019.
Between 2015 and 2020, there has been a 41% increase in suicides among active-duty troops.
The report noted that the coronavirus pandemic "was likely one of multiple contributing factors" that influenced suicide risk.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.