November 11, 2009 (Patriot-News Editorial Board) - Veterans Day is a good time to remember soldiers fighting psychological battles at home. It is a patriotic and honorable duty to support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many do their part by sending care packages and cards and letters to boost the spirits of our soldiers.

But it is becoming more and more clear that when soldiers return to the United States, not enough of them find the support and services they need when ravaged by psychological combat wounds.

Families and organizations can do their part, but the government has the ultimate responsibility to help these men and women.

On this Veterans Day, we should think about all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and those who have been physically wounded fighting on behalf of our country.

But we also need to pause and consider the soldiers who are struggling emotionally because of their time in a war zone serving in our armed forces.

This is nothing unique to this decade. Unfortunately, soldiers have returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder for generations, but the illness was not formally recognized until 1980.

Before then, soldiers’ problems were referred to as shell-shock, and they were expected to eventually tough it out and go on with their lives.

A formal recognition that it is not always that easy, however, has not meant providing enough psychological services to help those returning from active duty in battle zones.

This is sadly evident in the rising number of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan whose new homefront battlefield is depression, and in a rising number of cases, suicide.

On the same day that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of gunning down soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, a group of veterans were meeting with the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee pleading for more mental health services for our troops. Groups such as Veterans for Common Sense say the military suicide rate this year is on track as being the worst on record.

But positive signs of more help do exist. A project at Fort Lewis in Washington, called the Soldier Wellness Assessment Pilot Program, gives those returning from combat a minimum of a 15-minute face-to-face mental health interview.

If someone seems to be suffering from stress, services are immediately available. The program has received acclaim, but it is not part of the Department of Defense’s efforts. It came about through funding from the surgeon general’s office.

Most of us cannot imagine the horrors that soldiers face when fighting an enemy overseas.

For our current troops, the stress of being deployed multiple times can add to the mental anguish and in some cases not give soldiers a chance to truly deal with their PTSD, according to experts.

The military and federal government must provide more mental health services for soldiers and develop a systematic way of dealing with this critical issue.

That, too, is a patriotic and honorable duty to our troops.