The Most Important Reason Not to Join the Military

You might kill yourself after you get out. In March of this year, no U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, but almost 700 veterans committed suicide. According to Jack Hammond, the retired Army brigadier general who runs Home Base, a Massachusetts program that treats vets and their families, “veterans between the ages of 18 and 24 are four times more likely to kill themselves than their civilian counterparts.”

Could it be that fighting a senseless and unjust war has something to do with this? And could it be that I, a critic of the U.S. military and U.S. foreign policy, am more concerned about “the troops” than those who want to thank them for their service because they are fighting for our freedom?

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