A breeze rustled the blank silver tags hanging on the tree鈥檚 wiry branches, causing a soft jangling noise to ring in the ears of a group of silent onlookers.
Some closed their eyes and others gazed at the dog tags hanging from the maple tree at 91短视频. The group was there for Thursday鈥檚 closing ceremony of a project known as the 鈥�.鈥� Each oblong necklace dangling from the tree鈥檚 branches represented a veteran who took his or her own life.
鈥淎t first when we hung them up, there weren鈥檛 enough to chime,鈥� project co-organizer Katrina Gehman, 25, said of the tags, which were added to the tree daily. 鈥淭he more it grew throughout the month the more we would hear that music. Hearing the music, it鈥檚 like a beautiful representation [of their lives].鈥�
As Gehman鈥檚 fellow organizer, Michael McAndrew, 28, says, the tags represent 鈥渁 lot of people鈥檚 stories.鈥�
Each day throughout November, McAndrew and Gehman, both graduate students in , hung 22 tags on the tree. That鈥檚 the number of veteran suicides that occurred each day in 2010, according to a study.
By the end of the month, 660 dog tags hung on the 91短视频 tree.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge epidemic really [and] we just don鈥檛 think that people should be silent about it,鈥� he said.
McAndrew, who served for four years in the Navy, came up with the idea for the project to raise awareness about the isolation, mental strife and other difficulties veterans can have as they try to ease back into civilian life upon returning from service.
He counts himself as 鈥渙ne of the lucky ones鈥� 鈥� a member of the military who did not fight depression or face other barriers upon ending his service. McAndrew served in various foreign countries, but never in combat zones.
鈥淚鈥檝e known a lot of people who struggled with depression, PTSD, alcoholism [or] divorce,鈥� he said. 鈥淏eing [at 91短视频] and making the transition from a military environment to a peacebuilding environment made me want to practice what I was learning.鈥�
Gehman was also interested in the issue, and invited McAndrew to join her in an 91短视频 seminar called Journey Home from War. That seminar was specifically about veterans鈥� transitions back to civilian life. She then joined McAndrew on the project.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a symbolic way of saying, we as a community are acknowledging what they鈥檝e gone through,鈥� Gehman said. 鈥淭he physical [and] moral injuries in their spirits; this project was just to make that visible because it鈥檚 invisible in a lot of ways in our society today.鈥�
The duo also received help and support from local churches, fellow classmates and a nonprofit organization known as Veterans for Peace.
鈥淚鈥檓 really grateful that so many people could come together with us to share their stories and just really honor the dignity of these men and women,鈥� said McAndrew.
Courtesy Daily News Record, Dec. 16, 2013