Candlelight Vigil For Recent Military and RCMP Suicides

Update (Oct 22nd 2014): At the request of Cornwall Police Service the vigil scheduled for tonight has to be postponed to another date due to the recent tragedy in Ottawa. Organizers will let us know when the event will be rescheduled

Cornwall Ontario — Cornwall’s Friends of Vets are hosting a Candlelight Vigil for Recent Military and RCMP Suicides to honour and remember those with PTSD who took their own lives after service and to show support for their families. This event is open to everyone.

This event will take place at the Cornwall Cenotaph (corner of 2nd Street West and Bedford Street) on Wednesday, October 22nd, 20114 at 18:30h hrs (6:30pm). In case of bad weather, the rain date has been set for the following day on Thursday at the same time.

In a press release from Friends of Vets it is reported that many Canadians now are hurting after hearing in the news recently in the loss of some more of our military war heroes and RCMP who after serving our country proudly have chosen to end their lives because of PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) Many of us especially those with loved ones who have served our country or are still serving are asking what can be done to further prevent this kind of tragedy from always happening again and again and to appeal to our soldiers and RCMP with mental health issues or depression to get help immediately.

Friends of Vets is a local peer to peer support group helping our military, our veterans, RCMP and their families and friends to show support and to let them know that they are not alone with their difficulties that they may be experiencing. Many of us in Friends of Vets still suffer and are also hurting with PTSD after our military service. People with PTSD are at the highest risk for suicide. The recent news of so many suicides in the military and RCMP is unacceptable to us and we want to take a stand now for our fallen brothers and sisters and to speak out to our government and to our community as caring Canadians to let everyone know that this problem is very real and needs attention immediately so we may help and work together to prevent any more suicides in our Canadian Forces or RCMP.