Ashley Gilbertson
Ashley Gilbertson's photographs from Iraq, where he worked almost exclusively from 2002 until 2008 on assignment for The New York Times, gained him recognition from...
Read more ›On The Line
on 14 June 2012
Editors Note:
In a report by the Pentagon there have been 154 suicides among active-duty troops this year, a rate of nearly one death a day. This sets a pace to establish a record rate of suicides annually. I thought it would be good for all of us to take another look at Ashley Gilbertson's video, "On The Line".
Scott Thode
Editor VII The Magazine
These images are of call responders working for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Canandaigua, New York talking vets back from the edge. It's the frontline of the government's attempt to curb the rising suicide rate among active duty service members and veterans. The center is the only one of its type in the country, and was established in 2007 by the VA.
That year, the line received about 10,000 callers. In 2008, it received almost 70,000, and in 2009, just under 120,000. By June of this year alone, operators had already taken just under 100,000 calls.
On average, the operators in the center receive over 500 calls every day. After the phone's hung up, there's no follow up, and the operators almost never find out what happened to the veteran they spoke to. They go back to their reading, or facebook pages, and wait for the phone to ring again.
In a report by the Pentagon there have been 154 suicides among active-duty troops this year, a rate of nearly one death a day. This sets a pace to establish a record rate of suicides annually. I thought it would be good for all of us to take another look at Ashley Gilbertson's video, "On The Line".
Scott Thode
Editor VII The Magazine
These images are of call responders working for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Canandaigua, New York talking vets back from the edge. It's the frontline of the government's attempt to curb the rising suicide rate among active duty service members and veterans. The center is the only one of its type in the country, and was established in 2007 by the VA.
That year, the line received about 10,000 callers. In 2008, it received almost 70,000, and in 2009, just under 120,000. By June of this year alone, operators had already taken just under 100,000 calls.
On average, the operators in the center receive over 500 calls every day. After the phone's hung up, there's no follow up, and the operators almost never find out what happened to the veteran they spoke to. They go back to their reading, or facebook pages, and wait for the phone to ring again.