WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — It's a crisis that the VA has grappled with for years: suicide.
The national average remains around twenty veterans taking their lives every day.
The number of vets who have died by suicide in public spaces at department facilities is especially alarming: 25 in the last year and a half.
The most recent VA National Suicide Data Report came out in 2018 and contains statistics through 2016. It shows that the number of veteran suicides per year actually decreased from 6,281 deaths in 2015 to 6,079 deaths in 2016.
Still, even one veteran suicide is one too many.
Preventing suicides has been the VA's top clinical priority for the past two years.
Tuesday, lawmakers at a joint meeting of the House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs subcommittees heard from Defense Department officials about "understanding the problem and preparing for the future."
Department of Defense Force Resiliency Director Elizabeth Van Winkle promised to keep fighting.
"My colleagues and I know that every single life lost is a tragedy, and each one has a deeply personal story," she said. "With each death, we know there are families and often children with shattered lives. We cannot rest until we have pursued every opportunity to prevent this tragedy among our nation's bravest."
Representative Jackie Speier (D-California) wants the two departments to keep trying.
"It is an epidemic," she said. "But, it's more than an epidemic and more than numbers. These are people's lives and the lives of their families that are impacted by it. We have got to come up with a means by which we can address this in a holistic form."
Navy Captain Mike Colston, a physician and the Department of Defense's Mental Health Services Policy Director, said about 25 percent of active duty members seek mental health services during their last year in uniform.
"I think that's a good number in so much as it helps continuity of care with our VA partners," he said. "But, it also speaks to an opportunity that we missed perhaps, 'Why didn't they come in earlier if they were struggling?' or, 'How was care stigmatized in a manner that made it hard for them to seek care earlier?"
Veterans experiencing a mental health emergency can contact the Veteran Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer.