Troop suicides raise red flag

LUFKIN, Texas -- Army Spec. Joseph Suell had been distressed before. He missed his wife and their daughters so badly last year that he was granted a short visit home from his yearlong assignment in South Korea.

It was a different story this year. In March, five months after completing his Korean tour and right after re-enlisting, the 24-year-old was sent to Kuwait and then Iraq.

The day after Father's Day, Suell died in Iraq, reportedly after taking a bottle of Tylenol. His death was classified as "non-hostile," but a military chaplain told Suell's wife, Rebecca, it was a suicide.

Suell's death comes at a time when the military is investigating the growing number of suicides by U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf region. Since the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in the spring, 18 soldiers and two Marines have committed suicide, most of them after major combat was declared over May 1, the military said.

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The coffin of Army Pfc. Jeffrey Braun is carried by officers after services at St. Edward Church in Stafford Springs, Conn., Friday, Dec. 19, 2003. Braun lost his life on Dec. 12 while serving in Iraq (news - web sites) from a non-combat gunshot wound. The officers carrying the coffin are from the 82nd Airborne B Battery 2/319 Field Artillery which Braun served with out of Fort Bragg, N.C. (AP Photo/Steve Miller)