Suicide among National Guard and Reserve combat veterans is getting a closer look with news that half of the troop suicides between the start of the war in Afghanistan and the end of 2005 were reserve-component members.

Veteran Affairs CVA) Secretary James Peake admitted last month that more must be done to reach out to America's citizen-soldiers once they return from the battlefield.

An analysis by his department discovered that 53 percent of the 144 suicides by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from 2001 through 2005 were from the reserve components, including 41 Guardsmen.

Through the end of 2007, Guard and Reserve troops have made up 28 percent of the fighting force in the combat zones.

Statistics from 2006 and 2007 are still being compiled.

Peake told a Senate hearing that attempts to educate veterans about available services must be increased. But he acknowledged that a VA letter sent to veterans "sometimes winds up in File 13," meaning it is thrown in the trash.

He said the effort must also include family members, telling them how to recognize problems and how to respond.

"It is the family that will notice something different," he said.

Last year, the VA started a suicideprevention hotline (1-800-273-8255). Other efforts include hiring more counselors.

Also last month, the Army released 2007 statistics that show a possible 20 percent increase in suicides from 2006. Those figures weren't broken down by component.

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