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Mourners gathered at a vigil in Beechwood Cemetery on Sunday to remember Canadian soldiers lost to suicide. Candles were lit in memory of each of the 13 soldiers who were commemorated.
Jason Simon, a serving member of the Canadian Forces and third-year Carleton University student, was among those recognized at Sunday’s vigil. He had died only six days earlier at the age of 20.
His mother and father, Margit and Attila Simon, placed a red candle, representing their son’s life, alongside those representing other fallen soldiers who had taken their own lives.
“They are a part of our family,” said Sherry Duplessis, a volunteer with Soldiers of Suicide (SOS). Duplessis, who has suffered with post traumatic stress disorder, knows the struggle that faces those who come back from the battlefield only to fight another battle within the mind.
The Simon family was overwhelmed by the support it has received. Nearly 50 people, including Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, braved the cold winds to support the Simons and to bring awareness to the larger issue of PTSD in the military. The grieving couple embraced as each candle was set next to the SOS plaque within the east end military cemetery.
Behind the plaque stand rows of ash-white tombstones marking the graves of the men and women who have served their country.
Candles were placed around the memorial for Soldiers of Suicide at a remembrance ceremony.
O Canada was sung A cappella.
The vigil in Ottawa was among several held across Central and Eastern Canada.
“Their sons and daughters are not being forgotten,” said Duplessis. “It’s very easy to watch a Remembrance Day ceremony, and everyone does the services, and they talk about people. But when something happens due to PTSD, or another mental illness and the person has committed suicide, a lot of times the family will feel totally out of it and they will feel that they’re not part of the forces as they were before, and that the military is not going to talk about our sons and daughters.”
Duplessis said that much of the fear comes from the stigma of suicide itself.
“A lot of people have trouble saying the word suicide,” she said. “It’s not the nicest word to have to say, but it’s what can happen.”
It was Sophie Levesque’s mother who realized something was wrong when her daughter, who fought in Kosovo, returned to Canada in 1999. After coming home, Levesque herself realized she was acting more aggressively, but didn’t immediately recognize her actions as sympotmatic of PTSD.
“For me to recognize it, it took a long, long time,” admitted Levesque. “At one point, I was standing up and holding my bottle of pills, and I thought, ‘Should I take one, or should I take them all?’
“It doesn’t matter if you have a loving husband and three kids,” she said.
Levesque is helped every day by her pint-sized PTSD service dog, Jasmine. “She saves my life every day,” she said, pointing to the little black, shaggy dog.
“Getting help is not easy. It’s way easier than 30 years ago, but there is still a lot of work to do.”
An investigation by a Toronto newspaper has revealed that at least 62 Canadian soldiers or veterans who served in Afghanistan have committed suicide since returning to Canada.
Hehr admitted that the government has been slow to move on the issue of PTSD in the military.
“We’re taking that seriously,” said Hehr. “This is a complex issue, both in the military and in the general population.”
Margit and Attila Simon place a candle in honour of their son Jason.
Those attending a remembrance ceremony honouring Canadian Forces members who have died by suicide sing the national anthem at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016.
Veterans look on during a remembrance ceremony honouring Canadian Forces members who have died by suicide.
Minister of Veterans Affairs Kent Hehr greets Karen Tenai, the aunt of Jason Simon, who committed suicide on Feb. 15.
Dozens of people attended a remembrance ceremony honouring Canadian Forces members who have died by suicide.
查看原文...
Jason Simon, a serving member of the Canadian Forces and third-year Carleton University student, was among those recognized at Sunday’s vigil. He had died only six days earlier at the age of 20.
His mother and father, Margit and Attila Simon, placed a red candle, representing their son’s life, alongside those representing other fallen soldiers who had taken their own lives.
“They are a part of our family,” said Sherry Duplessis, a volunteer with Soldiers of Suicide (SOS). Duplessis, who has suffered with post traumatic stress disorder, knows the struggle that faces those who come back from the battlefield only to fight another battle within the mind.
The Simon family was overwhelmed by the support it has received. Nearly 50 people, including Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, braved the cold winds to support the Simons and to bring awareness to the larger issue of PTSD in the military. The grieving couple embraced as each candle was set next to the SOS plaque within the east end military cemetery.
Behind the plaque stand rows of ash-white tombstones marking the graves of the men and women who have served their country.
Candles were placed around the memorial for Soldiers of Suicide at a remembrance ceremony.
O Canada was sung A cappella.
The vigil in Ottawa was among several held across Central and Eastern Canada.
“Their sons and daughters are not being forgotten,” said Duplessis. “It’s very easy to watch a Remembrance Day ceremony, and everyone does the services, and they talk about people. But when something happens due to PTSD, or another mental illness and the person has committed suicide, a lot of times the family will feel totally out of it and they will feel that they’re not part of the forces as they were before, and that the military is not going to talk about our sons and daughters.”
Duplessis said that much of the fear comes from the stigma of suicide itself.
“A lot of people have trouble saying the word suicide,” she said. “It’s not the nicest word to have to say, but it’s what can happen.”
It was Sophie Levesque’s mother who realized something was wrong when her daughter, who fought in Kosovo, returned to Canada in 1999. After coming home, Levesque herself realized she was acting more aggressively, but didn’t immediately recognize her actions as sympotmatic of PTSD.
“For me to recognize it, it took a long, long time,” admitted Levesque. “At one point, I was standing up and holding my bottle of pills, and I thought, ‘Should I take one, or should I take them all?’
“It doesn’t matter if you have a loving husband and three kids,” she said.
Levesque is helped every day by her pint-sized PTSD service dog, Jasmine. “She saves my life every day,” she said, pointing to the little black, shaggy dog.
“Getting help is not easy. It’s way easier than 30 years ago, but there is still a lot of work to do.”
An investigation by a Toronto newspaper has revealed that at least 62 Canadian soldiers or veterans who served in Afghanistan have committed suicide since returning to Canada.
Hehr admitted that the government has been slow to move on the issue of PTSD in the military.
“We’re taking that seriously,” said Hehr. “This is a complex issue, both in the military and in the general population.”
Margit and Attila Simon place a candle in honour of their son Jason.
Those attending a remembrance ceremony honouring Canadian Forces members who have died by suicide sing the national anthem at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016.
Veterans look on during a remembrance ceremony honouring Canadian Forces members who have died by suicide.
Minister of Veterans Affairs Kent Hehr greets Karen Tenai, the aunt of Jason Simon, who committed suicide on Feb. 15.
Dozens of people attended a remembrance ceremony honouring Canadian Forces members who have died by suicide.
查看原文...
