Today is Memorial Day, a federal holiday set aside to honor service members who lost their lives defending our country.
The first known observance of Memorial Day was on May 30th, 1868. Back then, it was known as “Decoration Day” and honored the Union soldiers who died during the Civil War. The idea caught on, and by 1890, every Union state had adopted it. The holiday expanded after the world wars to honor all fallen service members, but it wasn’t until 1968 that Congress made it a federal holiday and officially named it Memorial Day.
It’s so important to honor the sacrifices of service members who gave their lives in the line of duty. But a tragic fact is that we lose far more veterans and active duty members to suicide than to combat.
According to a 2021 study, we’ve lost four times as many military members to suicide as we have to war since 9/11: around 30,000 active duty personnel and veterans have died by suicide, compared to the 7,057 service members killed in military conflict. We don’t have more updated numbers than that because the government has stopped tracking them.
Not only has the Trump administration stopped tracking that data, but they’re also currently making cuts to mental health support to pay for the war in Iran. It makes sense that they no longer want to track veteran suicides when they’re actively making the crisis worse. Why would they want a record of that?
But the good news is, there are lots of ways we can pick up the baton where Trump and Hegseth dropped it.
We can support veterans in our lives and in our broader community by listening and caring. You can also get trained by an organization called The Fire Watch to better identify veterans in crisis and help them find the right resources. They’ve seen a 26% reduction in veteran suicides in northern Florida, where Fire Watch began, and they’re now expanding to other states.
Today is about honoring our military members who’ve lost their lives defending this country. Let’s be inspired by their sacrifice to take care of the veterans who are still here. It’s the least we can do.
