© Jewel Samad / AFP via Getty Images fileIraq war veteran couple Colleen Ryan and Jeff Hensley of the U.S. Navy comfort each other as they help set up U.S. flags on the National Mall on March 27, 2014, to represent veterans and service members who died by suicide.
More military veterans died by suicide than the Department of Veterans Affairs had previously reported, a new study found.
The number of suicides among former service members is 1.37 times greater in eight states than the VA had reported from 2014 to 2018, according to a study released Saturday by America's Warrior Partnership (AWP), a national nonprofit organization that works to end veteran suicide.
If those states represent a national rate, that would mean about 24 veterans die by suicide each day, compared with the VA's average of 17.7 suicides in that time frame, the report found.
"It's devastating," said Jim Lorraine, AWP's president, who served in the Air Force for 22 years. "I'm not only a veteran myself. My son serves, my son-in-law serves. My wife is a vet. I know a lot of veterans who have died from suicide."
The report examined data from Alabama, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and Oregon. Those eight states, which represent 18% of all U.S. veterans, were the only states to provide usable data, AWP said, adding that most states had been barred from releasing data because of confidentiality restrictions.
Researchers said the discrepancy likely resulted from human error and a lack of resources that led states to undercount and mislabel veteran deaths.
"We're not pointing fingers at anyone," Lorraine said. "We're just saying it's sobering to look at the numbers."
Veterans who served less than three years were at the greatest risk of suicide, the report found, and the odds of dying by suicide increased by 56% if the veteran had received a demotion.
The report said former members of the Coast Guard were most likely to die by suicide, followed by Marine Corps, Army, Navy and Air Force service members.
AWP said the data was corroborated by the Defense Department and state records. The group said the VA was "willing to discuss participation from the beginning," but the agency could not share identifiable data because of regulations that protect veteran privacy.
In a statement, VA press secretary Terrence Hayes said ending veteran suicide was the agency's top clinical priority, and that the methodology behind the VA's National Suicide Prevention report was "well-established and consistent.
"We take every step possible to make sure that our veteran suicide data is accurate, because the first step to solving this problem is understanding it," Hayes said.
"The bottom line is this," Hayes continued. "One veteran suicide is one too many, and VA will continue to accurately measure veteran suicide so we can end veteran suicide."
Suicide is a national public health issue, with more than 45,000 Americans dying by suicide each year.
More than 46,000 American adults died by suicide in 2018, including more than 6,000 veterans, the VA said in its 2020 report. In its latest report, the VA said there were 399 fewer veteran suicides in 2019 than the year before.
AWP, which launched in 2014, hopes more states will participate in the study's next phase.
Lorraine said better collaboration would improve the accuracy of the data and lead to better prevention methods, which vary from one community to the next, depending on the demographics of the veteran population and other factors.
"This study belongs to the nation," said Lorraine, who retired in 2005 after nine combat deployments.
At the time, Lorraine was the deputy command surgeon for the U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees special operations within the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force within the Defense Department.
"Together, we can do better," he said. "We can make a significant dent."
Melissa Chan is a reporter for NBC News Digital with a focus on gun violence.
ok, much respect, but, you join the military, then you are called up to kill others on there home turf, some rape, take pot shots at children, some line children up, slit there throats for a thrill, a buzz
so, why the fuk sign up for service, cos when you return home, if you do, your hated, to a mx because of all this evil shit many service members commit,
im not saying all commit, so, you out there that reply me with abuse, you can just fuk off..
back to the narrative,
why kill yourselves, just quit, refuse to go overseas to kill people on there own home turf, we all know the us gov are officially a nzi ideology think tank, just look at the mid east, and recently, look at ukraine, going back to 2014,
our Russian friends are justified in that they do today, same as our Chinese friends, are justified with action with taiwan,
its those evil nazi rat bastad scum shit stains on humanity, that sit in there air con office, watching porn all day sending you lot to your untimely deaths, for a shitty paycheck..
end of the day, dont go, fuk it, quit, those fukwit shit stains dont care for you, there in it for themself, you all are replaceable..
your life means fuk all to them, especially your pedo president that shits itself 6x a day, with constant nappy changes whose own kids admitted it actually fuked them as kiddies, ffs, do your homework, the world knows it, why you lot dont learn is very unreal,
and that rat lieing shit stain is the reason you would end your life for.. ffs, wise the fuk up people!!
amerikkka government been bullshitting to the world before the pretended moon landing, that never happened, it was a propaganda battle with the make believe enemy, yes, those that saved you all from speaking german, without our chinese friends, and Russian friends, yes amerikkka, you be german today.. and your gov spnsored nazi germany with the invasion and rape of poland, usa paid for that, ffs, how bad can it get,
look at the world today, germany about to freeze to death, cos its backed the nazis, and you amerikkka, also, backed the nazis,
so, you stabbed your friend in the back, those that saved you all learning the german language..
when the fuk will you all awaken to reality..
weapons are sold in local shops, many of the wise minded, should gather, unite, take back the country, cos many in congress, many in the pedo pete rainbow house, set to divide the lot of you,
unite, take back your country, as of today, usa, a laughing stock of the earth.. ffs.. sad indeed..
just saying for a special friend, on your soil,, he wants his word out.. so, the above, here it is..
peace..