Military Suicides at Record Level Last Year

Outstrips combat deaths

The Associated Press has learned that suicides in the U.S. military surged to a record 349 last year.

That far exceeds the 295 American combat deaths in Afghanistan in 2012 and compares with 301 military suicides in 2011.

Some private experts predict that the trend will worsen this year.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and others have called military suicides an epidemic.