69 U.S. soldiers committed suicide because of Iraq (Dallas Morning News) [View All]

Unseen wounds prove just as deadly to troops
Suicides renew focus in military on alleviating toll of combat stress
By DAVID McLEMORE / The Dallas Morning News

Not all the wounds received in Iraq are visible. Not all the combat deaths occur on the battlefield. For Capt. Michael Pelkey, the war followed him home. After a year in the Persian Gulf region, Capt. Pelkey returned to Fort Sill, Okla., in July 2003. He quickly immersed himself in a new job and began getting reacquainted with his wife and infant son.

Then came the terrifying nightmares of the death and destruction he had seen in Iraq – and the inexplicable anxiety he felt in the safety of home. He grew forgetful. He began sleeping with a loaded 9 mm handgun. On Nov. 5, 2004, a week after an off-post therapist determined that he had post-traumatic stress syndrome, Capt. Pelkey shot himself in the chest and died...

Since combat operations began in Iraq in March 2003, 45 soldiers have killed themselves in Iraq, and an additional two dozen committed suicide after returning home, the Army has confirmed...

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