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Report: Young servicemen nearly twice as likely to die by suicide as civilian counterparts

The Navy Mine Countermeasure ship, the USS Chief, is moored at Pier One at the 32nd Street Naval Station, San Diego.
Alison St. John
The Navy Mine Countermeasure ship, the USS Chief, is moored at Pier One at the 32nd Street Naval Station, San Diego.

The suicide crisis among military veterans is a well-documented and deeply complicated phenomenon.

This same issue among active-duty servicemen, however, is increasing at an alarming rate in recent years.

A new report from Voice of San Diego indicates that active-duty servicemen are almost twice as likely to die by suicide than their non-military peers.

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While official military statistics offer little insight into the issue, experts —along with friends and family of the victims themselves — say the problem may lie in the increasingly high-pressure demands facing soldiers in the changing face of modern warfare.

Voice of San Diego reporter Will Huntsberry joined Midday Edition on Monday with more.