his grandson, corporal daniel o'brien hanged himself in july 2009. >> i don't think i will ever be the same again. there is a knot here in my gut. and it is problemliy going to stay there. >> reporter: he was one of 52 marines who died by suicide in 2009. a record high. it n response to the exploding numberses the corp launched a program to combat the problem. andrew martin is the psychologist in charge. >> leadership is letting them know it is not a sign of weakness if you ask for help. >> reporter: now, in addition to marksmanship and hand to hand combat they get training how to prevent suicide. >> how many of you here know of someone who committed suicide? >> reporter: the program may be seeing results. in 2010 marine suedes dropped 30 -- suicides dropped 30%. in the army the numbers nearly doubled. >> we don't know if there is a single cause out there. and there can not be a single response to turn this trend around. >> reporter: the general is baffled by the increase particularly since more than half of suedes were among soldier who's were never deployed. >> we think we are seeing