I was haunted by Jacob Blaylock. What is going on???

Hi Loyal Readers:

I am not a big fan of the military or of going into the military.
BUT ... recently a story in The New York Times caught my eye. "After Combat, Victims of an Inner War," was on the front page this past Sunday, August 2 (it may still be online.)

Normally, I would just ignore a story like this, but I read the first two paragraphs and after that was sucked in. Mostly it talks about Sgt. Jacob Blaylock, 26, who was from the 1451st Company (Transportation Company), which was based out of North Carolina and part of the National Guard. Blaylock was from Houston (or at least he lived there for some time.) Blaylock killed himself (put a gun to his head and shot himself) on Dec. 9, 2007. Including Blaylock, a total of 4 guys from his company have committed suicide since returning home.
I was sucked into reading the story not just by what the reporter wrote but by the pictures of Blaylock. In one picture on the inside of the NYT, Blaylock is seated with two other soldiers, getting ready to go out on a mission. In the photo he just looks like he would be an interesting guy. He looks like somebody who I would want to know. It is partially the pensive expression on his face that makes me say that.
While Blaylock was in Iraq, two of his friends (Sgt.'s Brandon Wallace and Joshua Schmit) died. Apparently before he went into the Army, Blaylock had suffered from depression and maybe other mental health issues, which only compounded his situation later.
I am against the war in Iraq and glad that Obama has pledged to bring the troops home. In a civilized, normal society, people should be able to go off to war, serve their tour of duty, then come home and resume their lives as normal. Although war can be terrible, there should be enough help for them when they return home that if they are haunted by what happened, they can get better. It is deeply disturbing that so many soldiers have committed suicide. Im looking at them as human beings, not just soldiers.
I was in church a couple of weeks ago (St. Monica in Dallas), and in a Prayer Book where people can write their requests, I saw that someone wrote, "Grandson back from Iraq. Hung Himself."

So much for BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE!
Alice

Here are a couple of web sites (the links never work on my computer):
www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com
http://www.buildingbands.com/JacobBlaylock