Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen mobilized in southern Florida last month and prepared to rescue the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis if they needed to bail out during an emergency. Instead, the Atlantis launched successfully into orbit July 8 and landed July 21.

The landing marked not only the end of the NASA's shuttle program, but also the end of the military’s rescue mission that accompanied each flight. Two Air Force HC-130s, at least four Air Force HH-60Gs, a Marine KC-130 and a Coast Guard HU-25 were mobilized for each launch in case an accident forced the shuttle to make an emergency landing.

“There was a whole armada available,” said Lt. Col. Scott Stenger of the 106th Rescue Wing. “The exact thing we went down there for luckily didn’t happen.”

It was the 109th time Stenger’s unit supported the Shuttle rescue mission. Stenger, the standards and evaluations officer at the 106th, participated in almost 20 Shuttle launches and was the air boss for King 2, the HC-130 idling on the runway during the final mission.

The modern rescue mission stemmed from the explosion of the Challenger in 1986. NASA officials developed a plan for the astronauts to bail out if an emergency landing didn't seem possible. The rescue forces would locate the astronauts – possibly in the middle of an ocean – and rescue them.

For each flight, a HC-130 carrying a jump team and three Zodiac boats was in the air and prepared to start the rescue mission in case the Shuttle needed to abort its takeoff and make an emergency landing. Another HC-130 with the same equipment sat on a runway at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., and would take off when the Shuttle began the emergency-landing process.

Four HH-60G Pave Hawks also stood by to transport astronauts to rescue, and a Marine KC-130 was prepared to refuel the aircraft in midflight.

The 106th Rescue Wing typically performs personnel recovery operations across the world, but the Shuttle mission became a major source of pride for the unit. Military and civilian personnel prepped F.S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., to be used as an emergency landing site. A sign on the gate near the wing’s headquarters at Gabreski Airport displays a running tally of the number of Shuttle launches the unit has supported. The wing had a barbecue after the last shuttle mission to celebrate the mission.

“It’s a big deal,” Stenger said. “People take it very, very seriously. People are very proud of it, no doubt.”

But with the retirement of the final Shuttle, that mission will go dark – though Stenger believes it’ll just be a few more years until the wing is called on to support another flight.

“NASA is looking at a few different possibilities of continuing manned spaceflights in one way or another,” he said, “and I think there’s a good possibility the Air Force will be included in that follow-on mission. If so, we’ll be ready.”

As many as 32 soldiers killed themselves in July, the Army reported Friday, a figure that, if confirmed, would be the highest total since the Army began releasing the figures in 2009. The Army suffered 31 suicides in June 2010.

Among active-duty troops, three of 22 cases have been confirmed as suicides. Of 10 potential suicide cases among reserve troops, all remain under investigation, the Army said.

“Every suicide represents a tragic loss to our Army and the nation,” Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army, said in a written statement. “While the high number of potential suicides in July is discouraging, we are confident our efforts aimed at increasing individuals’ resiliency, while reducing incidence of at-risk and high-risk behavior across the force, are having a positive impact.

“We absolutely recognize there is much work to be done and remain committed to ensuring our people are cared for and have ready access to the best possible programs and services.”

July’s figure was a significant jump from the 14 reported suicides in June.

Since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, more than 1,100 soldiers have taken their own lives, with the numbers escalating each year for the last six years. Last year alone, 301 soldiers committed suicide — a new record.

JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. - A soldier's widow says his fellow Army Rangers wouldn't do anything to help him before he took his own life - after eight deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army found Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann's body at a training area of Joint Base Lewis McChord a few weeks ago.

A spokesman for the base tells KOMO News that the nature of the death is still undetermined. But Staff Sgt. Hagemann's widow says her husband took his own life - and it didn't need to happen.

"It was just horrible. And he would just cry," says Ashley Hagemann.

Ashley says her husband Jared tried to come to grips with what he'd seen and done on his eight deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"And there's no way that any God would forgive him - that he was going to hell," says Ashley. "He couldn't live with that any more."

Ashley says her Army Ranger husband wanted out of the military.

"He just wanted to know what it felt like to be normal again," she says.

Staff Sgt. Hagemann had orders to return to Afghanistan this month for a ninth tour of duty.

Instead, on June 28, Ashley says her husband took a gun and shot himself in the head on base. She claims the Rangers never took his pleas for help seriously.

"There's no way that they should not have been able to pick up on it," Ashley says. "When he's telling them, he's reaching out ...."

And on Friday she found out she's not alone in wanting to speak out.

Mary Corkhill Kirkland lost her son Derrick to suicide more than a year ago.

She says doctors at Madigan Army Hospital considered him a low risk for suicide despite three earlier attempts. They sent him back to his unit - where he hanged himself.

Mary says she thinks the Army basically killed her son.

"My son did not want to die. He wanted help. He was crying out for help," she says.

Now Mary Kirkland is reaching out to Ashley Hagemann in her grief.

"You're in good hands, you're not alone here," Mary tells her.

"It's so nice to meet somebody else who understands," says Ashley. "Thank you so much."