RAY SUAREZ:

The statistics are stunning.According to the Associated Press, suicides among active-duty troops reached a new high last year.The suicide rate has been rising since 2001.And last year, 349 service members took their lives, much more than the 295 killed in combat in Afghanistan.The suicide figures are tentative, pending completion of pathology reports later this year.

For a look behind the numbers, we turn to Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a retired Army brigadier general who had a 28-year career as an Army psychologist.He heads the Center for Translational Medicine, where he treats returning soldiers and Marines.

And, Doctor, I want to begin again with that statistic.More servicepeople died by their own hand last year than were killed in action with the enemy.Have we ever seen anything like that before?