Short Changed: Military Women’s Deaths by Suicide Linked to Sexual Trauma
NOVEMBER 16, 2023| SONNER KEHRT
This article is part of Short Changed, a series looking at the noncombat deaths of women going back to 9/11.
As of Jan. 17, veterans thinking about hurting themselves can get free crisis care, including inpatient, for up to 90 days at Veterans Affairs. They do not need to be enrolled in VA care. For immediate help, dial 988, then press 1.
As Spc. Mikayla Bragg’s deployment to Afghanistan was coming to an end in 2011, she bought a plane ticket home to surprise her mother. She knew her mom liked a television show that featured military members coming home from deployment to surprise their families, so she hatched a plan to show up unannounced at her sister’s basketball game.
But Bragg didn’t make it home. A week before she was set to fly back to the United States, she was shot while she stood watch alone in a guard tower. Her last radio check had been about 10 minutes after she assumed watch. A little more than three hours later, when a fellow soldier brought her some lunch, rigor mortis had started to set in.
Bragg had joined the military two years earlier, looking for a decent job and a way to pay for school.
https://thewarhorse.org/us-military-women-suicide-deaths-linked-to-sexual-trauma/
