“Sometimes the most difficult thing in the world is to choose to endure life.”

Edwin S. Shneidman, The Suicidal Mind,1996

In May 1996, the U.S. Navy’s top admiral, Jeremy “Mike” Boorda, committed suicide when he learned that Newsweek magazine wanted to question him about the legitimacy of two of his medals. Earlier in his career, Boorda had worn “V” pins (for valor) on two medals, indicating that he had served under fire during the Vietnam War. Although Boorda served in the Vietnam theater, his medal citations did not authorize him to wear the “V” pins. Boorda stopped wearing the pins about a year before his death when a friend pointed out that he was not entitled to wear them. According to Boorda’s suicide note, wearing the pins was an honest mistake.

Much of the nation was...