Fellow Advocate, 

Today is Veterans Day—a day of pride, gratitude, and honoring the lives and sacrifices of our nation’s veterans. As a U.S. Army veteran, I feel the pride of service and deeply appreciate the support we receive. But I also feel a powerful responsibility to address a crisis that disproportionately impacts veterans and their loved ones: firearm suicide.

This day isn’t just about celebrating their past service; it’s about ensuring that our communities are doing our part to truly support our veterans here at home.

As CeaseFirePA’s Director of Firearm Suicide Prevention and a Stoneleigh Fellow, I’ve spent months connecting with individuals affected by suicide. What I have recognized is that firearm suicide is a problem for all of us, not just bereaved survivors or mental health workers, and that a community’s silence on this issue causes even more harm. We need more people to talk about this, and we need these conversations to happen so that more veterans are here with us tomorrow.

Do you have a few moments to complete our brief survey? Even if you’re not a veteran, and even if you don’t personally know any veterans, we’re counting on you to help us understand the barriers to talking about firearms and suicide in our communities.

We know that veterans are more likely to turn to firearms, the most lethal means, in moments of crisis—leaving almost no chance of intervention or survival. This means we need to ensure that veterans have every possible opportunity to find hope, help, and another chance to live the lives they deserve.

This Veterans Day, let’s go beyond gratitude. Let’s recognize veterans as whole people with complex experiences with so much to offer. Let’s honor them by showing that they’re not alone, by making space for conversations that reduce the stigma and silence around wellbeing, suicide, and firearms. Will you join me in bringing these conversations to light by taking our brief survey today?

In service,

Dr. Jay Breneman
Director of Firearm Suicide Prevention
CeaseFirePA Education Fund
Stoneleigh Foundation Fellow
(Former Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 2002-2009)