They are the casualties of wars you don’t often hear about - soldiers who die of self-inflicted wounds.

little information exists about how widespread suicides are among these who have served in the military. There have been some studies, but no one has ever counted the numbers nationwide.

"If you're just looking at the overall number of veterans themselves who've committed suicide, we have not been able to get the numbers,”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

CBS News did an investigation - asking all 50 states for their suicide data

Forty-five states sent what turned out to be a mountain of information

In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year

veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets

“If these numbers don't wake up this country, nothing will,”