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Guard Suicide Highlights Risks for Returning Troops

Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Jerome Sloss, a member of the South Carolina National Guard, seemed fine when he was serving in Iraq. But when he came home to his job as a state trooper, he had trouble concentrating. Sloss committed suicide on May 27, 2004 -- five weeks after his return.

Military researchers say 17 percent of troops back from Iraq show signs of mental health problems such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and reservists and guardsmen -- like Sloss -- may be at greater risk than their active-duty counterparts. That may be because when their deployment ends, members of the National Guard and Reserves don't return to military bases, where they're supported by others who've shared the life-changing experience of war.

Though the military has better programs than ever before to handle combat-related stress, there's still a lot of stigma. Sixty-five percent of troops with problems say they worry that if they ask for help, they'll seem weak.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Joseph Shapiro is a NPR News Investigations correspondent.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.