Amherst Begins Western MA Tour

Tonight the family of a soldier, who committed suicide one month after returning from Iraq, will speak at the opening ceremonies of Eyes Wide Open in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The U.S. military has recently reported that there have been an unusually high number of suicides among U.S. troops in Iraq during the past year. 24 soldiers have taken their lives during the past 12 months in Iraq and Kuwait. There have also been seven suicides among troops who have recently returned, including two soldiers who killed themselves while hospitalized at Walter Reed Army Hospital, according to a report in the Toronto Star.

That equates to a suicide rate of 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers, compared with a rate of 12.8 for the Army as a whole in 2003 and an average rate of 11.9 for the Army during the 1995-2002 period, according to officials familiar with the study.

Previous Army investigations of increases in the suicide rate during the 1990s and more recent probes had similar findings -- soldiers tend to avoid seeking help with stress or other mental health problems for fear of being stigmatized.