KORONER’S KORNER: SUICIDE, Persevere or Quit

I learned the other day that September is suicide prevention month in the U.S.  Ever since mid-August, suicide has been on my mind, because in mid-August, I initially thought that Cedar County suicides had reached double what they were for ALL of last year.  I went back to my files, and it turns out I was mistaken; we had four suicides last year.  I believe the reason ‘three’ stuck in my mind was because last December we had three suicides… just in December alone!  No wonder the number ‘3’ had stuck in my mind.

I have been trying to find out if there are any commonalities in our cases and I have seen some, but as a former epidemiologist for the Department of Defense, I can say it is too early to make any ‘cause and effect’ linkages.  While researching, one of the sisters of a decedent told me she was heavily involved with what she thought was an epidemic, with 22 veteran suicides happening daily.

A quick search found, “The widely cited “22 veterans per day” figure originates from older, limited data and overestimates the current rate.  Recent analyses suggest the actual number is closer to 17–18 per day, though some studies including self-injury mortality estimate up to 44 deaths per day when overdoses are considered (Mission Roll Call, 2025) missionrollcall.org. VA figures are hard to decipher in some of their reports but some of the latest figures show male veterans are almost 50% higher than non-veteran rates of suicide.  Most startling to me was that female veterans are 103% more likely to commit suicide than their non-veteran female counterparts.

In the county, only one of the six suicides this year was a veteran.  For ages, last year’s age range for suicides ranged from 23 to 81, this year’s ages ranged from 22 to 75.  There are some whom could have quite possibly died with suicide intentions, but the general criterion for classifying a suicide is I have to be 70% sure.  Since suicide also carries a lot of social stigmas for those left behind, my 70% surety has to have some pretty hard evidence.

Many ask me, “Why in the world would someone commit suicide?”  I do not have a high enough professional degree to answer that and since many suicide victims are seeing mental health professionals already, it appears that determining the ‘why’ or ‘if’ or ‘when’ is a much harder question that few are able to answer.  We try to do our best, but we just are not there yet to find out.

For some, I know they just want the ‘pain’ to stop, whether it is physical or mental pain, they have not been able to stop the pain so they resort to measures that cannot be reversed.  Some think suicide victims don’t think about those left behind.  Their mothers, fathers, siblings, children, and friends are all left ‘holding the bag’, wondering if they failed to do something or say something that could have prevented the act or even wondering if they caused the suicide somehow.

In Special Forces Survival training, I taught that the seven necessary elements in survival were: Fire, Water, Signal, Food, Medical, Shelter, and Miscellaneous.  All of these were centered around the Will to Survive and that was based on faith.  I told my students that I placed my faith in God, but that if they did not believe, they needed to put their faith in something.  Faith in yourself, faith in your country, or faith in your fellow soldiers.  It did not matter what you placed your faith in, so much as the fact that you had faith in something.  If you want to choose to live rather than die, you must put your faith in something, and you cannot budge on your faith.  Firsthand reports from Prisoners of War in Vietnam showed that when prisoners gave up their faith and quit eating, it was almost always the end.  When they gave up on eating, they had given up on life.

What amazes me about suicides is how hopeless people think things are when they may not have even used all their resources that might help them.  Those resources start with family and friends.  Reaching out starts with just talking.  For those worried about saying the wrong thing, not saying anything is worse.

I have a church friend on hospice.  Her cancer is inoperable and she spends endless hours in bed.  A few months ago, I went to visit her and was shocked when I went in and found her almost unintelligible her voice was so weak and low.  Her skin was pale and she barely ate anything.  When we left, I told my wife Teresa I thought my friend might pass within the next week.  Teresa told me not to say that because I knew how some people suddenly just get better.

Last week I went to visit my friend again.  I called first and she said it was her birthday that day so there was no doubt in my mind that I HAD to stop by and visit.  I knocked on the door and entered as usual, expecting to have to go to the back bedroom where I no doubt would find her in worse shape than I had weeks ago.

I opened the door and began to loudly sing, “Happy Birthday!”  There was a woman moving things around in the front room and I was shocked to find it was my friend up and cleaning.  She had gotten so much better the hospice nurse told her she could not justify so many visits in the future.  My friend credits her faith with curing her Multiple Sclerosis decades ago and never hesitates to say she cannot wait to go to heaven.  But in the meantime, she keeps on persevering and living her life.  She chooses to live rather than die.

Danny Leo Green,

Coroner, Cedar County