On the day set aside to honor our veterans, 23 will die by their own hand. But the cause of this “epidemic” is ignored.

Veterans Day marks the end of World War I, the armistice with Germany that officially began 99 years ago on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Originally known as Armistice Day, the name was changed in 1954. It is a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

But while Americans pay their respects to those who died in battle, there is another source of casualty decimating the ranks of the American military today.

It is not a secret: 23 soldiers and veterans commit suicide every day. In fact, according to Freedom Magazine, there is “an astounding military suicide every 65 minutes. More soldiers on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan have committed suicide than died in battle.”

But the military continues to entrust the resolution to those complicit in creating it, according to Lt. Col. Bart Billings, Clinical Psychologist U.S. Army Reserve, Ret. “We have never drugged our troops to this extent and the current increase in suicides is not a coincidence,” he says.

Is there a cause and effect relationship? Lt. Col. Billings believes there is. “Why hasn’t psychiatry in the military been relieved of command of Mental Health Services?” he asks. “In any other command position in the military, there would have been a change in leadership.”

The Freedom article reveals that military prescriptions for psychotropic drugs soared 475 percent from 2002 to 2014 to an astonishing 18 million annually.

Fred A. Baughman Jr., a San Diego-based neurologist and outspoken critic of psychiatric practices with more than 40 years of professional experience, believes that the majority of active-duty and veteran suicides can be traced to the rampant prescribing of antipsychotics and antidepressants.

For many years, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) and the Church of Scientology have lobbied for veterans rights including informed consent and treatment alternatives to psychiatric medication.

To raise awareness of this urgent situation, CCHR produced the documentary The Hidden Enemy: Inside Psychiatry’s Covert Agenda and uses the film to educate congressional staff, veteran groups and active servicemen and officers.

“When you have more casualties occurring with those who have proudly served here at home than overseas during their time of service, you have to ask yourself ‘are we doing enough?’,” Floridan Congressman Gus Bilirakis told Freedom Magazine when interviewed for the story.

For more information, to report abuse or to learn how to protect the rights of military personnel and veterans, contact CCHR at 1-800-869-2247.