Flags on National Mall represent veteran suicides

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/03/flags-national-mall-represent-veteran-suicides



Army veteran Julio Bernal from Takoma Park, Md., works with others from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America to place 1,892 flags representing veteran and service members who have died by suicide to date in 2014 on the National Mall in Washington, Thursday, March 27, 2014. The event also marked the introduction of The Suicide Prevention for America's Veterans Act by Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., which calls for greater access to mental health care.

Flags on National Mall represent veteran suicides
By Jada F. Smith
The New York Times
© March 28, 2014

WASHINGTON

Volunteers in dark green hooded sweatshirts spread out across the National Mall on Thursday, planting 1,892 small American flags in the grass between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Each flag represented a veteran who had committed suicide since Jan. 1, a figure that amounts to 22 deaths each day.

Civilians stood among the waving flags in solidarity with veterans like Michael Blazer, a former sergeant in the Army who had a friend commit suicide when he got back from Afghanistan.

“He shot himself in the same room as me and a friend of mine,” Blazer said. “I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD because of that, so a lot of these issues are what I’ve personally been dealing with. But above and beyond, I’m out here in memory of him.”

The event was part of an awareness campaign mounted by members of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an advocacy group focused on issues affecting the nation’s newest veterans. They are in Washington this week as part of their leadership development program, Storm the Hill, and to support the introduction of legislation aimed at preventing suicides and providing more mental health resources for service members home from combat.

[Scuba]

1. Hey, what do these vets want? I've got the yellow ribbon already. Isn't that enough?

sarcasm thingy for those without the gene