Feeling Odd

D told me yesterday that a guy in his friends recruiting command on the west coast committed suicide.  I don’t know why, or any details other than it happened.  And to be honest, its made me pretty sad.  The Army has been getting some negative press lately for the climbing suicide numbers for 2009 as you may have heard.  But I haven’t heard much about Navy suicides in a very long time.  Or even recruiting suicides in any branch for a while.  I kind of had that denial in my head that its not the Navy, that it doesn’t happen in the Navy.  Recruiting is frigging tough.  I have not been shy about my feelings about it.  But… lately it hasn’t been as bad.  People are much more willing to join the military now than they were even last year at this time.  I think its a mix of factors, the crappy economy, the “withdrawl” of troops in Iraq, etc.  My husband isn’t getting hung up on by parents after they tell him to “fuck off, and that he isn’t going to send their kid to Iraq to die” anymore.  (Which really wasn’t even the case at all!) 

With all that has changed in last year, that makes me wonder if this person’s suicide was recruiting related or not.  Obviously my husband works for a different recruiting command, and things might be very different on the west coast.  I really have no idea.

I’m saddened that he felt that he needed to take his own life… whatever the circumstances may have been.  I’m sorry for the people that are going to have to go on without him; the people that will ultimately suffer because they loved him and will miss him. 

I don’t really know what to feel.  I didn’t personally know him… but I’m still sad.

And I hope that if this was in any way related to the fact that he was recruiting, that it is addressed by the command.