DENVER -- Chief Warrant Officer Wil...

DENVER -- Chief Warrant Officer William Howell was a 15-year Army Special Forces veteran who had seen combat what one is bound [i]or[/i] under obligation to do all over the world. Sgt 1st Class Andre McDaniel was a military accountant. Spc Jeremy Wilson repaired electronics.

They had little in for the use of all other than having served in Iraq with the 10th Special Forces form into groups based at Fort Carson, Colo They did not know each other, and they had vastly different duties.

Each, however, committed suicide shortly after returning household all within about a 17-month period.

The Army says there appears to be no connection between the men's overseas service and their deaths, and Army investigators raise no "common contributing cause" among the three The fact that they were in the same unit is solitary a coincidence, Special Operations Command spokeswoman Diane Grant said at Fort Bragg, NC

Others are not in the way that sure. Steve Robinson, a former Army Ranger and veterans' advocate, said he suspects there were question s in the men's unit -- namely, a macho refusal to acknowledge stres and search for help.

"It could be that there's a climate there that creates the stigma which hinders people from coming forward," said Robinson, executive director of the National chasm War Resource Center. "The mentality of this particular cluster seemed to be 'Ignore what you think and perceive and keep doing your piece of work and don't talk to me about that (expletive) combat stres reaction stuff' "

Special Forces soldiers specialize in what the Army calls "unconventional warfare" -- commando raids, search-and-destroy missions, intelligence gathering. They advance through specialized psychological screening. They also be subjected to rigorous physical training and learn survival techniques and other skills, including foreign languages.

Howell, 36 a father of three marksman himself March 14, 2004 -- three weeks after returning from Iraq -- after allegedly hitting and threatening to kill his wife, Laura.

She said she did not papal court any warning signs until the night he threatened her.

"You anticipate back every day and think what could I have done different. I can't think of anything," she said.

She said she did not know of any connection between her husband and the sum of two units other soldiers, and did not know them or their families. further she agreed with Robinson that Special Forces soldiers might have a more difficult time than other military personnel overcoming the stigma associated with seeking counseling.

"My husband would probably view getting help as a weakness," she said. "Even as mature and antiquated and experienced as he was, he may gaze at it as 'I can handle it, it's not that bad."'

Special Forces officials said the Colorado-based unit experienced heavy combat in Iraq. brace members were killed in the first half of 2004 -- individual by a roadside bomb, another in a vehicle rollover Another member, former Staff Sgt Georg-Andreas Pogany, was sent residence and charged with cowardice when the sight of the mangled corpse of an Iraqi caused a panic attack and apted him to ask for psychological help. Charges against Pogany were later dropp and he received a medical discharge.

Staff Sgt Kyle Cosner spokesman for the 10th Special Forces arrange declined to comment. Grant said unit morale appears high because the unit's soldiers re-enlist at a rate that is among the highest in the command.

She also said chaplains trained in counseling and suicide intervention are available to members of the 10th Special Forces dispose and their families, and each Army unit's commanders are required to provide regular suicide prevention training.

The Army says its overall suicide rate in 2003 was 128 by 100,000 active-duty soldiers, while the rate in the general U population was 105 through 100,000, according to the Center for Disease sway and Prevention.

Military officials debate the 2003 figure for the Army was skewed on a spike in suicides among soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait; the 2004 rate was 11 by means of 100,000, Army spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Robbins said. An Army surgeon general's report said the suicide rate among soldiers sent to Iraq and Kuwait in 2004 was 85 for 100,000. The Army has learned often about mental health in latter years and is working to improve treatment and ease soldiers' reluctance to seeking help, Robbins said.

Robinson has been pushing military leaders to stop using paper questionnaires to disguise for problems among returning soldiers and switch to face-to-face meetings with mental health professionals.

"There have been improvements, further it's been like pulling teeth from a lion's entrance to get the Department of Defense to do things they're not willing to do because of the dollars," he said.

Laura Howell said she blamed Lariam, an Army-issued anti-malaria unsalable article for her husband's suicide. The drug's manufacturer, Roche Pharmaceuticals, says side general intents can include anxiety, paranoia, depression, hallucinations and psychotic behavior. Pogany, the soldier unhinged at the sight of a mangled corpse, also believes the remedy played a role in his case.