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I start to help war veteran to swim, and provoke an emotional response (3,1,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hit a raw nerve

'provoke an emotional response' is the definition.

'i start to help war veteran to swim' is the wordplay.
'start to' indicates taking the first letters.
'to swim' indicates anagramming the letters.
The first letter of 'help' is 'h'.
'i'+'h'+'war'+'veteran'='ihwarveteran'
'ihwarveteran' is an anagram of 'HIT A RAW NERVE'.

'and' acts as a link.

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