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"The War at Home": Norfolk to host memorial to veterans who died from suicide

Virginian-Pilot - 7/4/2017

July 04--NORFOLK -- The 20 weathered steel plates each bear the outline and name of a military veteran who died from suicide.

They're part of a traveling monument, the War at Home Memorial, that's scheduled to open in Norfolk in September.

The memorial was created by an Indiana-based nonprofit, Mission 22, that works to raise awareness about veteran suicide.

Mission 22's name comes from a 2012 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs study that estimated 22 former service members died from suicide every day. A report last year said the risk for suicide is 21 percent higher among veterans than for those who never served.

And Sara Dawdy, Mission 22's executive director, said seeing real people's names can make the problem hit home more than any statistic.

"The memorial really humanizes this because these are our fathers and our mothers and our brothers and our sisters that we are losing every single day," Dawdy said.

Those depicted in the memorial include Clay Ward, who died in 2013, and Michelle Langhorst, who died in 2015.

If the City Council approves, the War at Home Memorial will be erected in a field next to the Larchmont Library -- and near the Elizabeth River Trail -- from fall 2017 to fall 2018.

It will then move around the country, placed in a new location every 12 to 18 months, until it finds a permanent home. Dawdy said she's talked to officials in Washington, Annapolis and Arizona among other places about being the final host.

The Norfolk council is scheduled to vote to approve the memorial site July 11. It requires approval because the land is city-owned, but Mission 22 will bear the expenses of moving and installation.

Dawdy said she would prefer to have all 20 plates near the front of the library, but space limitations may require half in the back, closer to the trail.

Mission 22's memorial has 20 plates rather than 22 because a more recent study estimated the daily number of veteran suicides at 20, Dawdy said. She added that the true number could be higher because of under-reporting and difficulty finding out when someone is a veteran.

Norfolk, which was chosen in part for its high concentration of current and former service members, will be the first place the memorial is open to the public. From October to May, it was set up near San Antonio so Mission 22 could take photos and family members could pay their respects in a more private setting.

The memorial will sit off heavily traveled Hampton Boulevard, the route to Norfolk Naval Station, and across from a naval engineering complex.

Visitors will see a dedication plate and walk through the sculptures, which were based on photos provided by the families of the deceased.

Each 10-foot-by-4-foot plate weighs 1,000 pounds and will sit on a concrete base. They're made of 2-inch-thick sheets of a special steel called Cor-Ten that's designed to develop a protective coating of rust to prevent further damage.

In addition to raising awareness, Mission 22 focuses on treatment for combat veterans, including those suffering from post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injuries.

Dawdy said the organization has two treatment programs of its own, one in Fayetteville, N.C., that uses hyperbaric oxygen treatment and one in Chicago that uses a method called endobiogeny, described as a "whole person approach."

Though her organization is named after a report on veteran suicide, Dawdy said there are no good studies on the suicide rate among post-9/11 combat veterans.

The overall estimates released by the Department of Veterans Affairs include all veterans, regardless of when they served or whether they saw combat. Dawdy said Mission 22 would like a complete study so people know the extent of the problem among younger veterans.

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(c)2017 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)

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