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July 26, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – While encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations,  a major general in the U.S. Army  recently dismissed a Twitter user’s questions about a suicide spike among troops. 

“To get ahead get the shot,” General Patrick Donahoe tweeted on July 22, in reference to a previous tweet he wrote about getting vaccinated.

“Takes five weeks to build the immunity. If you haven’t done so, do it right now. Delta variant ain’t playing.”

Marine veteran and Hillsdale College doctoral student Josiah Lippincott responded on Twitter, challenging the general to focus more on the suicide problems among the troops. Lippincott attributed the spike in military suicides  to lockdowns, both in society generally and on bases.

“General, in Q4 of 2020 alone, there were 26 more suicides than in Q4 2019. There have been 26 Covid deaths TOTAL in the DoD,” Lippincott wrote. 

“The lockdowns, liberty restrictions, quarantines, and general disruption of servicemember's lives is a way bigger killer than the virus.”

In response to Lippincott’s tweet, Donahoe tweeted,  “Your false equivalency of suicide compared to the virus doesn’t hold up.” 

“Why don’t you compare auto accidents while you’re at it,” he continued. 

“Your apparent aversion to the vaccine is wrong headed. It’s the way to normalcy while saving lives. In 1918 people prayed for a vaccine.”

“Suicide is an intentional act. Car accidents are not,” Lippincott responded.

“When policy treats healthy soldiers as biological hazards we shouldn't be surprised by an increase in suicide and psychological problems.”

The general then tagged Hillsdale College and said “Hey @Hillsdale come get your boy.”

Several days later, General Donahoe told his followers to report and block people who disagree with him.

“Public Service Announcement.  Block and report the trolls and the disinformation tinfoil hat team,” Donahoe wrote in a July 25 tweet.

The dialogue did not go unnoticed.

 

 

A preliminary report on troop suicides published in Military.com  warned of “the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of our service members and their families.”

Military.com reported that “if the preliminary numbers remain unchanged, the number of suicide deaths in all components of the military will have grown from 503 in 2019 to 571 in 2020, which would be a 13.5% increase.”

It identified 156 suicides in Q4 of 2020 and 125 suicides in Q4 of 2019, representing 31 more suicides.

Meanwhile, military officers have created harsher restrictions for unvaccinated service members, including making it harder for them to leave base. 

Although young, healthy men – the kind who serve in the military – are extremely unlikely to die from the Wuhan coronavirus, they are at risk of myocarditis (heart inflammation) and other potentially life-threatening complications from experimental COVID-19 vaccines.

LifeSiteNews has produced an extensive COVID-19 vaccines resources page. View it here.