ABSTRACT
Durkheim (1951) provided the earliest figures available for suicide rates within
the U.S. military; Durkheim reported a rate of 68 per 100,000 for the U.S. Army
during the period from 1870 to 1884. The suicide of General Emory Upton was
not an unusual event in the military in those years. There was a matchless
epidemic, compared with any suicide rate in the U.S. military since. Why? The
reported U.S. rate for civilians has never been reported to be so high. Why was
it so high? Was it the American Civil War? Civil war, we know, causes more
suicides than international wars. General Upton’s case offers some insights,
I believe. During the first half of the 20th century, the U.S. Army suicide rate
remained between 20 and 50 per 100,000. However, during the years of the first
and second World Wars the suicide rate was reported to have dropped below
15 per 100,000 or less. Throughout the 20th century, suicides as a cause of death
within the U.S. Army were second only to accidents (unintentional injuries).
Today, suicide is still the second leading cause of death in the military (Centers
for Disease Control, 1999). That is significant.
