In the years since he returned from Iraq, Cody Conway has seen 10 of his comrades take their own lives.

“It’s one of the untold things that people don’t talk about,” said Conway, a United States Marine Corps sergeant who returned to Roseville in 2003.

The death of well-liked Granite Bay’s resident Trevor Hogue last week has focused local attention on the issue of soldier suicide.

Statistics show he’s not alone. A 2008 report by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs says an average of 18 veterans in this country commit suicide every day, and the number is rising.

This month, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the toll among enlisted soldiers and reservists will break last year’s record. That’s double the rate of 2004.

The numbers, of course, don’t tell the whole story.

Experts say there’s no easy answer to why anyone ever takes a life, but post-traumatic stress disorder is believed to play a major role in veterans’ suicides. It’s estimated PTSD affects up to 30 percent of troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For Conway, the wounds are visible and invisible.

Conway, a 2000 Woodcreek High graduate, always dreamed of being a soldier and a mechanic. He enlisted in the Marines as soon as he could, becoming an amphibious assault vehicle repairman.

He was part of the initial invasion of Iraq in March 2003 but a month later was severely injured while removing an engine, he said. He finished his tour, but is now disabled and out of the military.

“To have it all taken away in that little incident, it’s even hard for me,” he said. “People are coming back with severe injuries that make it impossible for them to do the things they normally would have done. Kids are coming back that are disabled for life. How do you support a family on that?”

For him, the problems went beyond torn muscles, broken bones and ripped tendons to the sights of war that he carries with him everywhere.

“When most people close their eyes, they see darkness. When I close my eyes, I see the people that were killed around me,” he said.

Assimilation was also hard. On his return, many people asked him whether he ever killed anyone in the war, a question that forced him to relive the hardest moments of his experience, he said.

After a dark period of drinking and depression, Conway’s friends intervened and he’s now making progress dealing with his demons. He’s stopped drinking, is focused on school and is engaged to be married.

He found solace among his fellow veterans at Sierra College, where he became active in the school’s veteran’s club.

The club is a place for those who have been through similar experiences to share how they’re feeling.

“We’d all get together once a week and if we wanted to talk we could talk and if we didn’t want to talk we wouldn’t talk,” he said.

He says more services need to be provided by the military to prepare soldiers exiting the service for the challenges awaiting them.

“They’re supposed to have transition assistance, but there isn’t one -- it’s not there,” he said.