(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Rep.-elect Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a retired Navy SEAL, said that Pentagon is more concerned about “white rage” and “pronouns,” rather than veterans and active-duty military personnel committing suicide.
“The secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff are worried about white rage, and they’re trying to figure out the pronouns that servicemen and women should be using,” he said, reported Breitbart.
Van Orden also slammed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley for not prioritizing veteran suicides.
“The pronouns the Department of Defense [and] General Milley [and] General Austin needs to start thinking about… should be ‘dead’ and ‘widow’ and ‘fatherless child,’” he said. “Those are the pronouns they need to be focusing on.”
Van Order also noted that nobody in the DoD was held accountable for troops committing suicide.
“They’re listing how many of [our] troops were affected with COVID on these people’s reports, but [they’re] not listing the amount of troops that committed suicide on their watch. It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
Another piece of information that he shared was that senior officers are not familiar with suicide statistics among active-duty military personnel.
“I don’t think they are taking it seriously. When they say it’s Lloyd Austin’s priority to prevent this, I don’t believe that to be true,” Van Order said. “I spoke to so many active-duty officers and senior enlisted guys. I’m like, ‘How many people have killed themselves on your watch?’, and they’re like, ‘I’ll get back to you.’ That means it’s not a priority.”
“Any commanding officer of any unit of any size that cannot — off the top of his or her head — tell you exactly how many men and women have committed suicide on their watch should be fired immediately,” he said.
As a politician, Van Orden promised he would prioritize policies that would collect key data and statistics about suicides among active duty and veterans. He also urged veterans in need to contact the Veterans Crisis Line by calling, texting or using an online chat.
“I’m going to urge my brothers and sisters in uniform not to make a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” he said.
