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I know it's a bit far fetched but another hypothesis would be that previous wars were deadlier for US soldiers and it was easier for a depressed soldier to get

• VLM 12y ago
  Perhaps conditions make it more difficult and/or less socially acceptable to cover it up, out of pity for the family which might have been the priority decades ago. So he caught a bullet and the guy who fired it is definitely dead, telling the family more isn't necessarily going to make them any happier. On the theory that not covering it up might reduce overall suffering long term, which is Probably true, or at least we'd like to think so. Also need to follow the gravy train. Once someone starts getting a paycheck for a problem, that problem is never going away and on paper will always expand. Seventy years ago an infantryman who dived on a live grenade to save his whole squad of buddies was simply a dead hero. Today, if the dude is a white upper middle class straight guy from a stable family with no addiction problems and a decent credit score and stable romantic relationships, then, aside from being almost a unicorn, he would still be a (dead) hero in that grenade situation, but any demographic discrepancy could indicate to someone with a counseling / research paycheck depending on finding a problem, that racism in the .mil might have driven that poor downtrodden soldier to suicide, etc. This is probably a very small effect, but if you don't follow the money you're not doing due diligence.