From The Associated Press, 5/28/07:http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=1003504

Families charge inadequate mental health care fosters suicide among
vets of Iraq war

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON -

In the three months after Marine Maj. John Ruocco returned from Iraq
feeling numb and depressed, he couldn't sleep.

He had lost weight.

He had nightmares.

He was distracted and withdrawn from his two young sons.

One night, he promised his wife, Kim, that he would get help.

The next morning, he was dead.

The 40-year-old Cobra helicopter pilot, based at Camp Pendleton,
Calif., had hanged himself.

There are others. Army reservist Joshua Omvig. Army Capt. Michael
Pelkey.

Marines Jonathan Schulze and Jeffrey Lucey.

Each came home from tours in Iraq and committed suicide.

Veterans' groups and families who have lost loved ones say the number
of troops struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder or other
mental health issues is on the increase and not enough help is being
provided by the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department.

For some, there are long waits for appointments at the VA or at
military posts.

For others, the stigma of a mental health disorder keeps them from
seeking help.

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America, says that although suicides among troops
returning from the war is a significant problem, the scope is unknown.

"The problem that we face right now is that there's no method to track
veterans coming home," said Rieckhoff, who served in Iraq as a platoon
leader in the first year of the war.

"There's no system. There's no national registry."

More than four years into the war, the government has little
information on suicides among Iraq war veterans.

"We don't keep that data," said Karen Fedele, a VA spokeswoman in
Washington.

"I'm told that somebody here is going to do an analysis, but there
just is nothing right now."

The Defense Department does track suicides, but only among troops in
combat operations such as Iraq and Afghanistan and in surrounding
areas.

Since the war started four years ago, 107 suicides during Iraq
operations have been recorded by the Defense Manpower Data Center,
which collects data for the Pentagon.

That number, however, usually does not include troops who return home
from the war zone and then take their lives.

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It's just the Republican administration supporting our troops

Harry