Earlier this year, CityLife told you how hard it is for vets here in Vegas to get needed medical care and the counseling to help them re-assimilate back into civilian life.

According to this morning’s New York Times, two veterans groups, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, are suing Uncle Sam, “… seeking to force the government to streamline its procedures for treating former soldiers, particularly those suffering from combat trauma and other mental health problems.

Recent U.S. Army studies, like those quoted for our January vets story, show that at least one in three soldiers and Marines who’ve returned from Iraq or Afghanistan has sought help for mental and emotional problems. Psychological problems are so prevalent among veterans that a recent CBS report found that as many as 6,256 vets commit suicide per year. That’s a rate of more than 17 per day.

Whether Washington will get its shit together and, for once, properly fund the VA remains to be seen. Vets returning from combat have been swamped by shiny medals and empty promises since before the Civil War.

Was it for the nice weather and friendly people? Maybe … or just mayyyyyybe he was up to some of the same chicanery he was alleged to have been up to here in Las Vegas. U.S. attorneys gearing up for a retrial certainly want the next jury to know.

Watch for Knappster’s column for more on it this week.