President Donald Trump's executive order creating a new task force in hopes of ending the national spate of veterans' suicides shows that the situation is a national tragedy that must be addressed, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Wednesday.
"Every day, 20 American veterans take their own lives," Wilkie told Fox News' "America's Newsroom," adding that some of them are on active duty, while most come from the Vietnam War era.
The order brings together the full force of the federal government while opening up care and outreach by state and local entities as well, said Wilkie.
"The statistics are alarming, which is why we all want to do something about this problem," Wilkie said. "Veterans are one-and-a-half times more likely than civilians to commit suicide."
In addition to Vietnam War Veterans, the suicide rates also have increased among post 9-11 soldiers, said Wilkie.
"We are talking about problems in some cases began in Lyndon Johnson was president," said the secretary. "For the newer veterans, it's a cry in the wilderness for us to rethink the way we treat veterans, the way we treat mental health issues."
The VA also needs families to come for help when they see a veteran in need, said Wilkie, as it "can't be a traditional hands-off approach, waiting for something to happen. We have to be in the community. The executive order points us in that direction."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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