Ohio yard holds 22 tombstones for daily veteran suicides

Ohio Tombstones Raise Awareness of Veteran Suicides
ABC News
By Cho Park
Oct 15, 2013

Bryan Bowman's front yard sports 22 tombstones that bring awareness to veteran suicides.
(Courtesy Bryan Bowman)

At first sight, the display on one Ohio man’s front lawn may seem like a macabre Halloween decoration.

But Bryan Bowman said he erected 22 tombstones made of Styrofoam outside his home in Canton, Ohio, with an important goal in mind: to promote awareness of the high rate of suicides among military veterans.

The 22 tombstones represent the number of veterans who commit suicide every day, and each of them is inscribed with a different message. One features a telephone number for a crisis hotline for veterans to call when they need help. Another says, “Two times the civilian rate” — referring to the statistic that the veteran suicide rate is twice that among civilians. Bowman built the tombstones when he was furloughed from his job.

“I actually did it two weeks ago, when I was furloughed because of the government shutdown,” he said. “I built those tombstones because I still wanted to bring awareness of what’s going on.” Bowman, who does veteran outreach work for Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, first started working with military families and veterans in 2006 as part of the Ohio Army National Guard, where he acted as a liaison for families who had members in the military serving overseas. One particular incident struck close to heart, he said.

“I stood guard at a fallen soldier’s funeral, a soldier who had committed suicide, and seeing the effects on his children and his family,” Bowman said. “You really do see the after-effects of the suicide on families.”
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