All Episodes

October 1, 2025 19 mins
Thank You for Your Service” As America Ignores Its Veterans’ Mental Health Crisis With Blissful Ignorance

We say it like a reflex.
 "Thank you for your service."
But when veterans come home from war mentally broken — and become the ones pulling the trigger in mass shootings, or turning the gun on themselves — our country looks the other way.

In this extended breakdown, we dive into two recent mass shootings committed by combat veterans, one at a church in Michigan, the other at a bar in North Carolina. The headlines said they were isolated tragedies. The truth? They're part of a disturbing pattern we rarely acknowledge.

🔺 Veterans make up 6% of the U.S. population, but 26% of mass shooters.
🔺 In 2022, 6,392 veterans died by suicide — nearly three-quarters using a firearm.
🔺 The VA reports over 4,400 severe staff shortages, with psychologists in highest demand.

This isn’t about dishonoring service. It’s about confronting the deadly consequences of neglecting mental health, ignoring red flags, and refusing to talk about veteran perpetrators because it makes us uncomfortable.

We don’t stop to ask:
 – Why are so many veteran shooters known to law enforcement before the violence?
– Why is the VA failing to provide timely, consistent mental health care?
– Why do we thank veterans for their service, then fail them in crisis?

This segment is a call for accountability — not just for the shooters, but for the institutions that looked away. If we want fewer headlines like these, we need more than symbolic patriotism. We need real help, real care, and real conversations about who we’re losing — and what it costs when we stay silent.

🔗 Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1 | Text: 838255 | Chat: veteranscrisisline.net

Hashtags
#Veterans #MassShootings #GunViolence #MentalHealth #VAHealthcare #PTSD #VeteranSuicide #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimeNews #AmericaFailsVets

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video?

Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok
https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter
https://x.com/tonybpod

Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Cardiac Cowboys

Cardiac Cowboys

The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.