The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has said it is extending a grant program designed to help reduce homelessness among veterans, making $600 million available over the next two years.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has also partnered with the VA since 2008 to help homeless veterans.

However, there were roughly 58,000 homeless veterans last year, according to the New York Times, citing government officials.

The high rate of unemployment, post traumatic stress disorder and combat injuries among veterans have sharply raised the rate of suicide among them.

New figures show that the number of young American veterans committing suicide soared from 2009 to 2011.

The suicide rate increased nearly 44 percent for male veterans between the ages of 18 to 29 from 2009 to 2011 and more than 11 percent among female veterans, according to the data released by the VA.

The suicide rate among veterans remains well above that for the general US population, with roughly 22 veterans a day taking their own lives.

A large number of US troopers who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan come from lower class families who were promised a better future by the Department of Defense.

The majority of Americans now believe the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a mistake.

More than 80 percent of Americans say they are opposed to the war in Afghanistan, making the longest war in US history also the most unpopular one, according to a CNN/ORC poll released in December.

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