WASHINGTON : Suicides among U.S. soldiers climbed since March as pandemic lockdowns began nationwide, raising questions within the Pentagon about how much isolation and other factors related to the coronavirus outbreak are driving the rise in deaths.As of Aug.
31, 144 active-duty Army soldiers had killed themselves this year, up from 88 in the same period of 2019, defense officials said.When Army reservists and national guardsmen are added, the figure jumps to 200, the officials said, compared with 166 for the same period last year.
During the month of July alone, 35 Army active duty, reserve and national guardsmen died of suicide, officials said.The suicide rate among active-duty Army soldiers is currently 36 per 100,000, defense officials.