Story highlights Trump made the comments at the Retired American Warriors PAC, in Herndon, Virginia.

The number of suicides and other grave effects from PTSD in the military has skyrocketed

Washington (CNN) Donald Trump suggested Monday that American soldiers and veterans who commit suicide do so because they can't handle the post-traumatic stress of war.

"When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over and you're strong and you can handle it but a lot of people can't handle it. They see horror stories, they see events you couldn't see in a movie, nobody would believe it," Trump said Monday, during a panel interview at the Retired American Warriors PAC, in Herndon, Virginia.

Trump's surrogates said the Republican nominee's comments were taken out of context, and blamed the media for construing his words.

Trump adviser and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn accused the media reporting on Trump's comments of, acting as " the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton."

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