MINNEAPOLIS, April 22, 2008—CBS News is reporting that far more American veterans are committing or attempting suicide than previously acknowledged.

An internal email from the head of mental health services for the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs has Ira Katz, M.D., saying: "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities."

That figure suggests that 12,000 U.S. veterans are attempting suicide annually, a figure far greater than the annual figure of 790 attempted suicides reported for all of 2007.

Over half of these attempts are successful, Katz acknowledged. He wrote: there "are about 18 suicides per day among America's 25 million veterans." That's about 6,570 suicides annually.

Asked about veteran suicide rates in the past, Katz has said that while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's within normal parameters.

"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told a CBS reporter as recently as November.

Tuesday, two Democrtatiuc Senators, Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Patty Murray of Washington, called on Katz to resign for withholding the information.

In California, veterans' rights groups are suing the Department of Veterans Affairs for not responding to a mental health crisis among veterans. The internal email surfaced as part of this lawsuit. Advocates for better care for veterans are accusing the VA system of a cover-up, of concealing the true suicide rates of veterans.

The problem of veterans' mental health is causing concern in many quarters.

Last week, the RAND Corp. released a study suggesting that as many as 300,000 U.S. troops who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan may be suffering from severe depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Another 320,000 may have suffered traumatic brain injury, although that total includes about 21,000 of those suffering from depression or PTSD.

For its part. the MMA has adopted a policy of reaching out to help returning veterans. A panel of Minnesota physicians has been formed to work with the military to address the medical and psychological needs of men and women returning from active duty.

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