Suffolk should fly suicide awareness flag for vets

Long Islanders active in veteran organizations have been openly engaged in an honest and undoubtedly wrenching debate among themselves over flags, which are enduring ceremonial symbols of who we are as a nation. A bill introduced in the Suffolk County Legislature would formally recognize the Suicide Awareness and Remembrance (SAR) flag — and require it to be flown below the American and POW-MIA flags at county buildings whenever the latter two fly together.

Kevin Hertell, a member of American Legion Post 336 in Glen Head, designed the SAR flag, as noted on the Legion’s website, which has been hoisted around the nation in different ceremonies in recent years. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Hertell founded and leads the SAR organization. In 2016, he lost a cousin, Air Force veteran Robert Dean, to suicide. Since then, Hertell has been on a mission to raise awareness of what all sides in the debate recognize to be a tragic suicide epidemic and the importance of prevention programs. 

As reported in Newsday on Monday, recent testimony on the bill suggested a generational divide between post-9/11 veterans, who generally spoke in favor of the measure, and older peers who voiced reluctance. The bill’s sponsor, Legis. Chad Lennon (R-Rocky Point), served for 16 years in the Marine Corps, four of them on active duty, including combat missions in Afghanistan.

Those opposing the measure included William Hughes, commander of VFW Post 5350 in Westhampton Beach and a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran who earned a Distinguished Flying Cross. He supports expanding programs and research to combat the traumatic problem. But as to the SAR flag, he says: "Our American flag embodies all our histories and stories, and the addition of a third flag on the same mast will create distraction from our colors."

It's easy to understand and accept why the bill might not sit right for patriots and proud warriors. They simply do not agree that a flag raising is the right way to pay specific attention to suicide. But when earnestly looked at from the other side, the SAR flag should tell civilians to appreciate just how high the toll has been for military service. Successive generations were raised to see mental-health issues differently. For many people both inside and outside veteran circles, openly acknowledging and honoring those who succumbed to their wounds — psychological and physical — after coming home does not pose the cultural dilemma it once might have.

The prisoner-of-war, missing-in-action flag has its own context. It was designed in 1971 by a World War II veteran to serve as a reminder that thousands of Americans in foreign wars were still unaccounted for. Not until 2019 was that flag required to be flown on federal properties, including the U.S. Capitol.

If including the SAR flag in ceremonies speaks movingly to the post-9/11 generation, that seems worth its inclusion. It is not meant to devalue the other flags. Suffolk lawmakers should approve the bill.