RE: [Futurework] Grim news from Iraq

[Karen Watters Cole]

Does anyone know if survivors receive full benefits, such as they are?   My son completed the Navy Nuke program and said that there might have been 7 suicides in the program. Some of these are single vehicle accidents. Motorcycles were a common means. Bill   Army Is Studying Suicide in Ranks By The New York Times, Tuesday, October 14, 2003 @ http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/14/international/middleeast/14MILI.html WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 — Army officials sent mental-health experts to Iraq last month to study cases of suspected suicide among ground troops and determine whether sufficient counseling was available, a Defense Department official said Monday.   Pentagon officials are trying to determine whether the reported suicides can be attributed to combat stress or the growing length of tours in Iraq, or whether the numbers of deaths attributed to self-inflicted wounds are in keeping with suicide rates in the military when not deployed.    USA Today, in an article on Monday, quoted military officials as saying at least 11 Army soldiers and 3 marines had committed suicide in Iraq over the past seven months.     Are the families told the truth when this happens?  Or is this, like ‘friendly fire’ deaths in previous wars, kept from them? Do their dependents, if any, still receive survivor’s benefits?  Can you imagine what this does to the soldiers serving with them?