CRAVEN COUNTY, N.C. — On Veterans Day, we honor our active and retired military members, especially those who have given their lives in service to their country. However, we also want to recognize the stresses of military life and raise awareness for mental health and veteran suicide. In New Bern, local veterans and supporters did that through the March for the 22.
What You Need To Know
22 veterans commit suicide every day
The March for the 22 is raising awareness to help combat veteran suicide
Participants walk up to 22 miles carrying 22 pounds, symbolizing the burden of poor mental health
Veterans encourage others reach out to those they care about because you never know what they are going through
It's a tragic fact. Twenty-two veterans take their own lives every day. In order to raise awareness about this issue, Adin Colon started the March for the 22 in 2020. Last year, the event started out with 10 people, but this year they have over 200 participants.
“Twenty-two veterans a day committing suicide is just an astronomical number,” Colon said. “One veteran a day committing suicide is still too high. And we know it's not something we can necessarily stop, but it's something we can raise awareness to and bring [people] together.”
Participants in the event have the option to walk 22 miles from Maysville to New Bern, 22 kilometers or two kilometers to raise funds for programs that combat veteran suicide rates. They also have the option to carry 22 pounds on their hike, symbolizing the weight people carry when they are struggling with mental health.
“At the end of the day ... we get to take that weight off and kind of sit down ...,” Colon said. “But a lot of these veterans who are kind of struggling with this issue don't get to take that weight off.”
For many veterans suicide awareness hits close to home. Albert Bellamy recently retired from the Marine Corps, where he worked with two Marines who committed suicide.
“They both came as such a shock, and it really caused me to question, 'What are we doing wrong? And what can we do more to help them?'” Bellamy said.
Bellamy also says there's no easy fix to this ongoing problem, but raising awareness is a good first step.
“There's this view of the military that they're disciplined, they're well-trained, and you just think that it naturally builds in mental resilience. And it does,” Bellamy said. “But then some of the stresses that we put on our service members are so severe that it tests the mettle of even the best people that we have to offer. ... Service members and especially, I think, male service members have this intense pressure to always be under control, to always appear perfect, to appear like you've got all your problems solved. And the truth is often different from that.”
After losing his friends to suicide, Bellamy realized how important it was to seek out human connection. He says you never know who is suffering, so the most important thing is to reach out to the people you care about, go beyond, "I'm fine," and dig a little deeper into those relationships.