For starters the military needs to stop pushing psychotropic meds on their soldiers in order to blunt their emotions so that they can be redeployed again and again. These medications have been shown to cause suicidal and homicidal ideations along with sleep problems, anxiety, and aggressiveness. These soldiers have been at war – they have every right to be depressed and anxious about their situation. Blunting their emotions in order to keep them fighting is slowing killing them. They need actual therapy and coping skills not a quake with a prescription pad.

The need for mental health proffessionals in the armed forces is a necessity. These young men and women recieve more than adequate training in terms of fighting a war and hopefully keeping themselves alive. But I question how well they are mentally prepared for their encounters with death and dying. My son was deployed to Iraq when he was 21 yrs old, there was no way that he could have prepared himself for seeing a buddy being blown up by an I.E.D., or esecorting a dead body to another military base or seeing children maimed and disfigured by bombs. How could anyone expect their child not to be profoundly affected by these experiences. After spending a year dealing with this war, he was told a day or so before he was to go home that his tour was extended for another 6 months. The disappointment and dread in his voice was apparent enough to make me cry. He had held on for so long enduring this war, managing to cope ,internalizing all that he had seen and experienced, only to have his dreams of going home and being safe taken away from him. The soldiers in his unit were tired and worn out having been out patroling some of worst cities in Iraq, fearful that they or their buddies would not survive another day. This situation was handled very poorly, I questioned how much emotional support they recieved after getting the news they were extended. Surprisingly, they all sucked it up and continued to be good soldiers and do what they were told to do When my son came home, he was only a shell of the young man he was when he joined the Army, he will never be the same for good or bad. The best way to describe him is haunted!

The help can’t come soon enough as officials say 64 soldiers have committed suicide this year in the army alone. Military officials say this year’s 64 suspected Army suicides are on a grim pace to break last year’s record of 133.

133, is that all?
What about the suicide rate for the average Americans?
The unemployeed, homeless, addicts?

Get real here.

I have a unique idea? How about getting the funding from the mercenary army that's on the U.S. Military off-budget payroll,...I'm sure there's billions to spare!

Under the previous administration, supporting the troops was only relevant while they were on foreign soil. Once home, support was cut. And, if I recall what I had previously read, many in the military – rather than treating the PTSD caused by deployment in a war zone – determined that most of those affected had pre-existing psychological issues and declined to treat. Talk about passing the buck.

But I have to ask - why are people surprised by the suicides? The boys (and that is what they are – boys) do not know how to deal with the realities of the world, let alone war. This is not a live-action videogame where the participants can be "reset" and the "games" start over.

Our military needs to do a much better job of preparing these boys for the realities of war and have the necessary "support" on hand when they return to help them deal with the realities of being home.