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Suicide numbers drop for 4th straight month

Seven soldiers are believed to have killed themselves in April, bringing the number of reported soldier suicides this year to 64, Army officials announced May 7.

One of the April deaths is a confirmed suicide; the other six are pending a determination. About 90 percent of the deaths examined in such investigations typically are ruled to be suicides, officials have said.

In April 2008, 12 suicides were reported. After a record-high 23 reported suicides in January, the number of soldier suicides has declined each month since then.

Six of the seven active-duty soldiers believed to have killed themselves in April were men, and five of them were married, according to information from the Army. One soldier was a private, two were specialists, three were sergeants and one was a command sergeant major.

The private had never deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, while the specialists and sergeants each had completed one deployment. The command sergeant major was deployed at the time of his death.

Also in April, three additional soldiers are suspected of killing themselves. These soldiers belonged to the reserve component and were not on active duty at the time of their deaths.

All three were men; one of them was a private first class and the other two were specialists. All three cases remained under investigation as of May 7 and had not been confirmed as suicides.

As many as 143 soldier suicides were reported in 2008, the fourth year in a row the Army has seen an increase, and leaders have said factors such as the stress of deployments and personal relationships played a role in the deaths.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli issued a comprehensive campaign plan for health promotion, risk reduction and suicide prevention, officials said in a news release. The plan, published April 24, encompasses the physical, spiritual and mental health of soldiers and their families.