Since the time we were little kids, Memorial Day has brought abt convos & images of service men & women who paid the ultimate sacrifice: lost their lives defending our countries & our way of life.
As we got older & learned abt war, we began to think of lives lost in places like the beaches of Normandy, the jungles of Vietnam, & the sands of Afghanistan. The image on the 2nd slide comes to mind…losing our own, in battle, & sadly their bodies (or what remains) having to be sent back like that. It’s an image that’s harrowing…it’s hard to look at & think of the casualties that each coffin represents…each life that had so much left to live.
And in sharing that image, this stat on the opening slide should wake us. Memorial Day happens every single year at the end of MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH. Those two things line up, &…the stats show us we are losing more service folks to suicide & overdose than we are active duty, & yet this doesn’t get the press or talk it should.
Try going to your favorite search engine & typing in: Memorial Day & Veteran Suicide. You’ll see two articles – TWO that mention the connection within the “news” category. One’s about how a local Tampa group recognizes the connection. One’s from a military publication that recognizes the connection btwn being in service, & then overdose after active duty.
We are in the space of MH advocacy. We have been commemorating Memorial Day since 1868! And now the stat over the last 20+ years shows just how much mental health takes down our bravest, & yet it’s not getting talked about.
It’s on us to share. Service folks are the greatest representation we have that both direct & vicarious trauma accumulate over time & wreak havoc. We need to be louder for them, & the services they need (the latest research says that the VA is under reporting, & instead of 17 deaths by suicide per day, the number – bc more are shifting to overdose – is actually now 24). Larger than the “22 per day” we’ve been told about for so long.
Once again, let’s get loud…let’s share. We need to wake folks up. I think of that image on slide 2…& just how many more there are, AFTER service.
