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Thomas E. Ricks: Why do so many veterans kill themselves?

The suicide rate for veterans has gone up 35 percent since 2001, in part because of increases in post-9/11 veterans killing themselves.

FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2015 file photo, Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald speaks to reporters outside VA Headquarters in Washington. More than one-third of calls to a suicide hotline for troubled veterans are not being answered by front-line staffers because of poor work habits and other problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)