Remembering Those Who Died in Peace

Memorial to Heather Heyer 
Photo by  AgnosticPreachersKid,
Heather Heyer memorial 9, CC BY-SA 4.0

I'm remembering people who died in peace today.  Enough people are remembering those who went to war.

I'm remembering Heather Heyer, who died while demonstrating against neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, two years ago this August 12.  

She gave her life to oppose racism.  She had never attended a demonstration before and was a little scared to go, but she went. 

I'm wearing a t-shirt in honor of her today.

I'm also remembering all the returned soldiers who have suffered from the sights and sounds and acts of killing--suffered so much, without enough help, that they have taken their own lives.

Here's a report by Billy Cox in today's Herald Tribune in Sarasota, Florida:

According to Brown University’s “Costs of War Project” released late last year, 6,951 troops have been killed in America’s wars since 2001. But that toll pales in comparison to what survivors of those conflicts are doing to themselves. Using the Department of Veterans Affairs formula of 20.6 suicides a day, some 7,519 uniformed and retired military personnel took their lives in 2018 alone.

And it's sad that less than 1 percent of federal funds earmarked for suicide prevention in 2018 had been spent — or $57,000 of a $6.2 million allotment.

May we all remember someone today, whether he or she died in war or in peace.