FLORENCE – September is Suicide Prevention Month, and, in recognition of it, the University of North Alabama Chapter of Student Veterans of America and the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs have partnered to implement “Operation: We Remember.”
“Operation: We Remember” is a display of 152 flags along Cramer Way that will serve as a visual reminder of the 152 Alabama veterans who died in 2020 as a result of suicide. Across the United States, 6,261 veterans died by suicide, during the same timeframe.
The Field of Flags display gives “a visual as to the size of the issue,” said Sissy Louise Moore, Veterans Wellbeing Program Manager for the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs. “Seeing the number of flags displayed is a grim reminder to all about the human cost of suicide among those who have served in America’s Armed Forces.”
The flags will be displayed along Cramer Way and just north of Harrison Plaza beginning Sept.
19 through Sept. 25, during the week of Homecoming. Members of Student Veterans of America
(SVA) will be present from noon until 1 p.m. each day. SVA, UNA Counseling Services, UNA Lion Battalion, and Miss UNA Clair Hendrickson will also be present to promote Student Mental Health Awareness as well as suicide prevention.
Media Release/University Media and Public Relations
UNA
