NAMES IN THE NEWS : Thought of Suicide, Wallace Says
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NEW YORK — Mike Wallace says he was treated for depression and thought about suicide during the Westmoreland libel trial five years ago.
In an interview that aired Tuesday on WNYW-TV, the CBS correspondent said he kept the treatment a secret from his colleagues.
“Depression is something you do not want to talk about,” the 71-year-old Wallace said. “The reason I’m talking about it now is so people who are looking in will be aware of the kind of thing that can happen. It is a sickness.”
Asked if he thought about suicide, Wallace responded, “Sure.” But he said he never made plans to take his life.
Wallace was a co-defendant in Gen. William C. Westmoreland’s 1985 libel suit against CBS for reporting that the general deliberately falsified estimates of enemy troop strength during the Vietnam War.
Westmoreland settled out of court.
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