VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — They were not the numbers anyone wanted to hear.
According to Department of Veterans Affairs data released last November, suicides among veterans were up 1.8%.
The VA's latest National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report showed that 6,392 veterans died by suicide in 2021.
That's 114 more veterans to take their own lives than the year before.
"I'm very disappointed," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), following a campaign gathering in Virginia Beach Friday with local veterans and public servants.
Kaine said more financial resources could help, but just as important-- he said--- is elimination of stigma and expansion of care.
"We've got to make it real easy to access mental health. I think people still find it too hard," he said.
Kaine also spoke about his recent meeting with the executive director of the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
That facility came under fire from the House Veterans Affairs Committee which in an April letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough alleged "substandard care" in the facility's Surgical Services Department.
The same letter contended that there were "credible allegations" of retaliation being "commonplace" against VA employees who report patient safety concerns.
"It may be that as much as not poor medicine but poor management or lack of communications. Often times, if you let an unhappiness grow with a unit, you get whistleblowers even if the quality of the care is acceptable. so, we're going to have to dig into that," he said.
Kaine stated flatly that "whistleblowers have to be protected."