About 20% of American suicide deaths are veterans

A recent study has finds that the strongest indicator as to depression risk is what combat the soldier has been in before, not the amount of time previously spent in a combat theater. The problem is that the intent is to deploy everyone as a unit to keep teamwork and trust together, and not everyone in a unit has the same cumulative stress levels.

A scary quote: "The number of soldier suicides (129) reported in the first seven months of 2009 by The New York Times was higher than the number of active troops killed during combat in that time."

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/04/billion-dollar-ptsd/