Suicides among U.S. soldiers rose last year to the highest level in decades, the Army announced yesterday.

At least 128 soldiers killed themselves in 2008. But the final count is likely to be considerably higher because 15 more suspicious deaths are still being investigated and could also turn out to be self-inflicted, the Army said.

A new training and prevention effort will start next week. And Col. Elspeth Ritchie, a psychiatric consultant to the Army surgeon general, made a plea for more U.S. mental health professionals to sign on to work for the military.

"We are hiring, and we need your help," she said.

The Army and Tripler Army Medical Center said they were unable yesterday to provide any statistics relating to suicides involving Hawai'i-based troops.

U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Shafter referred questions to Tripler, which referred questions to the Army Medical Command in Texas.

Troy Griffin, a spokesman for U.S. Army Pacific, said the service takes suicide prevention very seriously.

"We are honor-bound to ensure we do everything possible to minimize potential risks," Griffin said. "It's crucial for leaders and everyone associated with the Army to decrease the stigma associated with seeking help and improving access to care."

The Honolulu medical examiner's office said for calendar year 2008 it handled one suicide case involving a military person.

The serviceman, assigned to a Navy security detail, was in Iraq in 2002-03, the medical examiner's officer said. The investigative report indicated that he was stationed on an aircraft carrier for six to eight months and returned in a "good frame of mind."

He had an argument with his ex-wife and a day later shot himself in the head, officials said.

If a service member commits suicide on a military base, the case goes to Tripler, while if a suicide takes place off base, the medical examiner's office takes jurisdiction.

The new Army suicide figure compares with 115 in 2007 and 102 in 2006 and is the highest since recordkeeping began in 1980. Officials calculate the deaths at a rate of roughly 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers — which is higher than the adjusted civilian rate for the first time since the Vietnam War, officials told a Pentagon news conference.

"We need to move quickly to do everything we can to reverse this disturbing ... number," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said.

Officials have said that troops are under tremendous and unprecedented stress because of repeated and long tours of duty due to the simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The stress has placed further burdens on an overwhelmed military healthcare system also trying to tend to huge numbers of troops suffering from post-traumatic stress, depression and other mental health problems as well as physical wounds and injuries of tens of thousands.

SOME NEED MORE CARE

Schofield Barracks soldier Sgt. Jesse Kerry, 23, in July barricaded himself in his Royal Kunia townhouse and kept police at bay for 18 hours after he had returned from Iraq.

Kerry had served in Afghan-istan in 2004-05, and in Iraq during 2006-07. A friend had called police to say Kerry, the father of one child, was armed and suicidal, according to police. When he surrendered, he had cuts on both wrists, authorities said.

Kerry's mother, Stephanie, yesterday said her son is doing better and is in a residential post-traumatic stress disorder program at Tripler.

"It takes 13 weeks to get soldiers to be soldiers," the Alabama woman said by phone, adding, "why can't they take at least half that time when the soldiers come back from a war zone, to get them through some intensive examination to be sure of their stability, and root out the ones that need some more care?"

Yearly increases in Army suicides have been recorded since 2004, when there were 64 — only about half the number now. And they've occurred despite increased training, prevention programs and psychiatric staff.

When studying individual cases, officials said they found that the most common factors for suicides were soldiers suffering problems with their personal relationships, legal or financial issues and problems on the job.

The statistics released yesterday cover soldiers who killed themselves while they were on active duty — including National Guard and Reserve troops who had been activated.

The new estimated rate of 20.2 is more than double the 9.8 in 2002 — the first full year after the start of the war in Afghanistan.