After a bad day on the job as a Border Patrol agent, casually pressed his government-issued handgun under his chin and pulled the trigger.
A month later, one of his colleagues at the Fort Hancock border post put a bullet through his head, too.
Border agents are killing themselves in greater numbers.
Agents often spent 12-hour shifts sitting alone in Jeeps and pickups keeping watch for illegal immigrants.
"Now an agent may start his shift and sit in one position for eight hours and monitor traffic and do their work," said psychologist Kenneth Middleton, clinical director of the Border Patrol's peer-support program. "Now they've got a whole lot of time to think about other things going on in their life."
Even for agents assigned to monitoring posts along the fence, Gallagher said, it's "not a position that just lends you to sitting there drooling on yourself."
"If an agent is bored everyday at work, that's a choice they make," said Gallagher, a union representative in his sector. "There is always work to be done."
"Waxing your knob is fine, but don't overdo it."
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