Young Male Violent Death Trends in the General Population During the Vietnam era

Suicide & homicide rates significantly increased throughout the Vietnam War among young American civilian males. Men who reached military age after the war were at greatest risk. Years of high combat intensity were not associated with higher suicide or homicide rates than years of low combat intensity. Broad social forces, not the war itself, were responsible for the changes in violent mortality trends that were observed among the birth cohorts of men in this study. (33 refs.)