HAMILTON, Ohio — September is National Suicide Prevention Month.

The Butler County Veterans Service Commission is raising awareness about veteran suicide.

What You Need To Know

  • Butler County Veterans Service Commission hosts a silent watch

  • The goal is to raise awareness about veteran suicide

  • For 17 hours, veterans and volunteers stand in a Silent Watch over a flag-draped casket in downtown Hamilton

The main goal is to save a life.

For 17 hours, veterans and volunteers stand in a Silent Watch over a flag-draped casket in downtown Hamilton.

“Somebody in our family has been involved in every conflict since the United States was founded, even before it was founded,” said volunteer Claymon Calihan.

Calihan is just one of an expected few hundred people rooting every twenty minutes and taking turns.

“In Butler County last year we saw nine veterans die by suicide. We accounted for about 17% of the total suicide deaths in Butler County, but veterans are only 5% of the population. So using those numbers veterans here in Butler County are four times more likely to die by suicide than a non-veteran,” said Butler County Veterans Service Commission Executive Director Mike Farmer.

So far in 2024, five veterans in Butler County have died from suicide.

“I think a lot of it is stigma. We are taught as veterans, certainly in the Marine Corps and all the branches, that you don’t ask for help. You keep everything to yourself, you compartmentalize. There’s stigma associated with reaching out for mental help,” Farmer said.

That’s why mental health experts are offering advice or just a listening ear.

“Having conversations that sometimes can be uncomfortable if you’re noticing somebody starting to not act themselves, just reaching out for help, just checking on them. That can really make a difference and being connected to people is really helpful,” said mental health therapist Eric Stone.

For Calihan, his advocacy reaches from his work with the American Legion, to efforts in downtown Hamilton all to support veterans.

“We just want to bring awareness to that and that’s why I’m here to bring awareness to that. I hope people see me and ask what I’m doing here, I’ll say ‘bringing awareness to veteran suicide and actually first responder suicide’. That’s why I’m here,” he said.

The event ends at 11 p.m. with a presentation of the flag, 21-gun salute and taps.