EDITORIAL: We must do more than remember

Monday marks our most solemn national holiday of the year.

We must never forget the ultimate sacrifices rendered willingly by generations of military heroes, defenders of the freedom we too often take for granted today.

But remembering is not enough.

There is, in fact, work to do.

Are you aware that, according to a 2021 research project — roughly 20 years after 9/11 — an estimated 7,057 service members had died during military operations since those terrorist attacks?

There’s more, unfortunately.

A paper by Thomas Suitt for Brown University’s Cost of War Project revealed that in that 20-year-span, 30,177 veterans and active duty personnel from those conflicts died by suicide.

“War is hell” is one of life’s gravest understatements. That kind of hell for many continues even after service ends.

And when we say “for many,” we include the survivors, the loved ones, of the men and women being memorialized on Monday. Moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, close friends — all comprise the concentric circles of emotional devastation created by every military member’s death.

Mourn we might, but help we must. And help is available at your fingertips.

A nonprofit called Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors — TAPS — is worthy of your support.

“Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope 24/7 through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones,” says the TAPS mission (taps.org).

We urge you to check out the website and determine how you can provide more than a moment of silence once a year. TAPS has earned a sterling 4-star rating from charitynavigator.org, so you know that if you decide to donate, you’ll be investing in an ethical and efficient nonprofit.

TAPS also needs volunteer assistance, so almost anyone can participate in a positive way to mitigate the toll military deaths take on society. Go to taps.org and see how you might help.

Grieving the loss of a fallen service member? Know someone who is? TAPS offers a 24/7 military survivor helpline: 800-959-8277.