Trees bear witness to tragedy of veteran suicides

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A Witness Tree, carrying dog tags representing the lives of veterans lost to suicide, stands outside Trinity United Church of Christ in Wadsworth on Nov. 11, Veterans Day. (John Matuszak, special to cleveland.com)

“The single, silent soldier does each task that must be done/He’s the hero, he’s the villain, he’s the victim all in one” “Tribes”

WADSWORTH, Ohio -- During November, as trees shed their leaves, other branches are bearing a heavy burden.

Witness Trees, in several locations in the Cleveland-Akron area and in other states, are draped with military dog tags that represent the number of veterans who lose their lives to suicide every day.

The trees “are bearing witness to the tragedy of war,” according to John Schluep, a retired minister and founder of the Warriors Journey Home support group, which has held the Witness Tree ceremonies here since around 2005.

“They bear testimony to the truth.”

Witness Trees are located in Akron, Canton, Tallmadge, Streetsboro, Wadsworth and other Ohio sites, as well as in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

Each day, from Nov. 1 to Veterans Day on Nov. 11, 22 dog tags -- obtained from a New York manufacturer -- were placed in the branches. By the end of the week, the trees each held 242 tags.

The 22 tags represent the average number of veteran suicides that occur every day. Some studies put the figure as high as 44, counting drug overdoses and miscounted deaths.

Schluep, himself a veteran, said the suicides constitute a person “killed after action. You were not killed in combat, but the war took your life.”

The Veterans Administration reports that since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 30,000 veterans have taken their own lives -- four times the number lost in combat during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2020, there were 6,146 veteran suicides, according to the VA, a slight drop from the number the year before.

The rate of suicide among veterans is almost 60 percent higher than among non-veterans. For veterans younger than 45, it is the second leading cause of death, accounting for almost a quarter of deaths since Sept. 11, 2001.

Firearms account for 71 percent of these suicide deaths.

Ohio has the highest rate of veteran suicide among Midwestern states, at 30.9 per 100,000, much higher than the national rate of 17.3.

In 2020, Ohio counted 230 suicides among veterans, with 217 men and 13 women taking their lives.

Growing awareness

Schluep said that Warriors Journey Home, which holds groups in Akron, Tallmadge, Wadsworth and other locations, adopted the Witness Tree project from a member in Pennsylvania.

While carrying the weight of these lost lives, the trees are also a symbol of life, Schluep said.

As trees provide food, shelter and purify the air and water, “veterans give and give and do not ask for anything in return,” Schluep said.

And like the roots of the trees that run deep into the soil, there is a lot to the existence of the veterans that can’t be seen, he added.

This Veterans Day, those who served and their supporters gathered at Trinity United Church of Christ in Wadsworth for the final Witness Tree ceremony of the week.

With the steady rain, droplets clung from the tags.

“God is crying,” one participant said.

At 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month -- which marked the end of World War I -- a bell rang and a moment of silence was observed.

The veterans present formed a circle facing out, while the circle of “stronghearts” there to honor them faced inward.

The veterans stated, “I served to protect you.” The supporters responded: “I am grateful. Welcome home. I am here to protect you.”

One veteran said that three comrades from his training class had died by suicide since leaving the military.

“We don’t do enough for our veterans,” said Peggy Hegbar, the daughter of World War II veterans and facilitator of the Warriors Journey Home group in Wadsworth.

Schluep agrees. That is why he founded the Warriors Journey Home groups, which incorporate Native American and other cultural rituals to create a space where veterans can speak without fear.

“We’re not therapists, but what we do is therapeutic,” Schluep said.

Listening without judgment is a start in bringing veterans back, he suggested.

The Witness Trees have been well-received in the community, he said. Loved ones can put the name of a family member on one of the tags to be displayed.

One mother, who had lost her son, an Iraq war veteran, to suicide, told Schluep, “I feel like I’ve released something I’ve been carrying.”

The tags will remain in place throughout November. At the end of the month, families can retrieve their individual tags. Others will be buried in a sacred place, Schluep said.

The ceremonies are also a way to honor the service of the veterans, he noted.

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Military veteran Dave Stewart gets a hug from Peggy Hegbar, a facilitator of the Warriors Journey Home support group, following the Witness Tree ceremony in Wadsworth recognizing veterans who have lost their lives to suicide. (John Matuszak, special to cleveland.com)

During the Wadsworth event, Hegbar noted the freedoms enjoyed by citizens that veterans fight to protect.

Quoting John:15 from the Bible’s New Testament, Hegbar said, “‘No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends.’

“You don’t have to die to lay your life down,” Hegbar said.

Information about Warriors Journey Home is at www.warriorsjourneyhome.org.

Additional information is at www.veteranscrisisline.net. Those needing help can dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255.

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