Memoir: Suicide Prevention, The Viet Nam War, McClellan Air Force
Base, California, 1969-1973
Preface: There is a general viewpoint among experts in suicide and
suicide prevention that official statistics on the number of suicides and
suicide attempts in any identified population are like the tips of icebergs.
They do not reveal to a casual reader the reality of how many individuals
in that population killed themselves intentionally and, separately, how
many tried to kill themselves, failed, and might try again. Authoritative
estimates occasionally appear in both professional and popular media
that there are about eight suicides in fact for each that is certified as a
suicide for the official record, and about fifteen unsuccessful attempts at
suicide for each that is classified as such, again for the official count.
According to figures compiled by the Centers of Disease Control
(CDC), suicide rates are rising steadily for teenagers while declining or
holding steady in other age groups. Between 1980 and 1993, the suicide
rate rose 120 percent for 10 to 14-year olds, and almost 30 percent for
15 to 19-year olds.
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