Our View: Honor and support our veterans

Saturday is Veterans Day, a day set aside to recognize and honor all of the men and women who have served our country in the military.

Observed on November 11, Veterans Day in the United States coincides with Armistice Day and Remembrance Day in other countries, marking the anniversary of the end of World War I. The war known as the “Great War” during its time ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Over 100 years later, we use the day to remember all who have fought for our country both before and since.

This week’s paper is our annual Veterans Edition, where we include a special section with the names and photographs of veterans from our community, along with information about their service and the awards and honors they received.

By including these veterans in our paper, we primarily want to recognize, honor, and thank each of them for their service. But we also hope we can break down the sometimes abstract concept of “veterans” as a whole and show that each veteran is an individual person. These are the names and faces of our friends, neighbors, and family members. The people we share our community with are the people who worked and fought to serve our country so that safe, free community can be a reality.

Our veterans deserve our gratitude on Veterans Day and every day. But they also deserve and need our help and support. They face battles every day that most of us could never imagine, and they often go without the help they need.

This week’s Opinion page in the newspaper also includes an op-ed by a Wyoming representative discussing the importance of mental health resources and suicide prevention. While we work to help everyone who’s struggling, let’s also remember and work to help one of the most at-risk groups, which is our veterans.

According to Stop Soldier Suicide, “veterans are at 57% higher risk of suicide than those who haven’t served.”

A study published by the Watson Institute at Brown University found that suicide rates among active duty personnel and war veterans of post-9/11 conflicts have increased dramatically, with more dying from suicide than from combat.

“An estimated 30,177 have died by suicide as compared with the 7,057 killed in post-9/11 war operations,” the study explained.

As we honor those who’ve served this Veterans Day, let’s also take time to think about the struggles they face and how we can help. Supporting local organizations like the VA and the American Legion is a good place to start.