（Boston Orange編譯）麻州州長奚莉（Maura Healey）今（22）日在州議會大樓舉行首屆「關注軍人與退伍軍人自殺與紀念日」（Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day），藉以紀念因自殺離世的軍人、支持其家屬，並宣導心理健康與防範自殺資源。
麻州退伍軍人服務廳（Executive Office of Veterans Services, EOVS）第二任廳長Eric Goralnick，今日在現場主持追思儀式。
「關注軍人與退伍軍人自殺與紀念日」法案，當年是由麻州參議員Patrick O’Connor和麻州眾議員Joan Meschino攜手提出，麻州州長奚莉於2025年簽署成法，期以紓緩自2020年以來，麻州每9宗自殺案中，就有1宗涉及現役或退伍軍人，其中許多人生前並未獲得退伍軍人醫院（VA）的醫療服務，意味著許多案件可能原本不會發生。
麻州政府指出，自從奚莉州長和Kim Driscoll副州長上任以來，州政府已推出許多具體措施，包括簽署了「英雄法（HERO Act）」，擴大退伍軍人的行為健康與失能門診治療與補貼，擴辦「全州退伍軍人倡導計畫」（SAVE），並成立自殺死亡審查委員會，建立數據導向的防治策略，撥款 200 萬美元資助 15 個社區組織；推廣槍枝安全裝置與 988 專線，落實致命工具安全防禦，啟動 2,000 萬美元的終結退伍軍人無家可歸計畫，已協助超過 1,000 名退伍軍人取得穩定住所。
奚莉政府在 2023 年將把退伍軍人服務組織（EOVS） 升格為內閣級部門，本週亦將聯合衛生部門舉辦年度州長挑戰（Governor’s Challenge）研討會，持續提升社會對軍人自殺防治的重視。
Governor Healey Marks First Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day
BOSTON— Governor Maura Healey today marked Massachusetts’ first Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day, which she signed into law in 2025 to honor service members and veterans lost to suicide, support their families and strengthen awareness of available mental health and suicide prevention resources.
To mark the day, Veterans Services Secretary Eric Goralnick and the Executive Office of Veterans Services (EOVS) hosted the first official remembrance ceremony at Memorial Hall in the Massachusetts State House. Families who have lost loved ones to active-duty service member and veteran suicide joined state leaders, veterans advocates and community partners to honor their lives and recommit to supporting service members, veterans and their families.
“When our service members come home, we want Massachusetts to set the standard for how we support them and their families,” said Governor Maura Healey. “That means making sure veterans can get mental health care when they need it, expanding suicide prevention and peer support, and recognizing that women veterans and military families may have different needs and experiences. It’s also why Iw designated September 22 as a day to honor those we have lost, raise awareness about veteran suicide and make sure more veterans know that help is there when they need it. We owe it to those who served our country to make sure they never have to navigate these challenges alone.”
“Today is about honoring the service members and veterans we have lost and making sure their stories lead to action,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Suicide prevention starts with making it easier to ask for help, recognizing when someone is struggling and connecting veterans and their families with support before they reach a breaking point. We’re working with communities across Massachusetts to strengthen those connections and make sure no veteran feels like they have to carry these challenges alone.”
“Service members, veterans, and their families face unique pressures—from the demands of military service to difficult transitions, loss, and the challenges of asking for help in a culture that focuses on strength and self-reliance,” said Veterans Services Secretary Eric Goralnick. “Creating a culture in which people feel safe speaking up, checking in on one another, and seeking help without stigma, can strengthen our military community and help save lives.”
“Suicide of veterans and military service members is a public health issue that calls for a public health approach. And this approach must look at the conditions that lead to it,” said Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD. “Public health asks questions like where does the problem begin? What can we do before someone reaches a breaking point? What can we change in our communities, in our systems, and in the circumstances that shape people’s lives? And perhaps, most important, who needs to be at the table? That is why the close partnership among the Department of Public Health, the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services, the Department of Mental Health, and so many others matters so deeply.”
“Our work is focused on facilitating the connection between available support and service members who need it,” said Department of Mental Health Commissioner Emily Bailey. “Nationally, a majority of veterans who died by suicide were not receiving any VA health care and that’s why accessible community and state systems are so important here in the Commonwealth.”
“September 22 in Massachusetts from here on out is the first of many annual reminders that our responsibility to the men and women who sacrifice so much for our country does not end when their service does. Thank you to Representative Meschino for your collaboration on this now law and I appreciate the Governor and everyone on her team for the support in getting this legislation across the finish line. We have long championed this alongside members of the Veteran community, family members, and friends who have been advocating for awareness of mental health resources and support that are available for service members and veterans” said State Senator Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth). “There are too many families that have experienced this heartbreaking loss. We will continue to support the Veteran community, spread awareness, and ensure that no Veteran feels alone.”
“We brought forward this legislation in direct response to the tragedies that have left holes in the fabric of our communities and to build awareness to prevent future tragedy,” said Representative Meschino (D-Hull). “Veteran Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day is an important step in offering support to both our active service members and veterans.”
In Massachusetts, one in nine suicides in 2020 involved someone with current or past military service. Since taking office, Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll have made strengthening veterans services, expanding access to mental health care and making sure veterans receive the benefits they have earned a priority.
The Healey-Driscoll Administration has:
- Signed the HERO Act, the most comprehensive veterans legislation in Massachusetts history. The law expanded access to outpatient behavioral health treatment, increased benefits for disabled veterans, strengthened support for businesses hiring veterans and made dozens of additional improvements to benefits and services, including creating a working group to study.
- Expanded mental health and suicide prevention services for veterans statewide. Massachusetts strengthened the Statewide Advocacy for Veterans Empowerment (SAVE) program to provide veterans with more proactive mental health support, peer connection and help accessing benefits, while establishing a statewide Suicide Mortality Review Committee to identify risk factors and develop data-informed strategies to prevent veteran suicide.
- Invested directly in community-based mental health care and peer support. The Healey-Driscoll Administration awarded $2 million to 15 community organizations to expand behavioral health programs, peer support and innovative suicide prevention efforts for service members and veterans.
- Expanded practical suicide prevention tools and training across Massachusetts. Through a statewide lethal means safety initiative, EOVS has trained Veterans Services Officers and community partners and distributed thousands of firearm safety devices carrying information for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and Veterans Crisis Line to help create safer environments for veterans experiencing a mental health crisis.
- Brought veterans, families and providers together around prevention and resilience. EOVS, DPH and DMH continue to lead the Governor’s Challenge, bringing behavioral health providers, first responders, higher education professionals and veteran-serving organizations together to strengthen suicide prevention, postvention and support for military members and their families.
- Made housing stability part of the state’s broader commitment to veterans’ well-being. Governor Healey launched a $20 million campaign to end veteran homelessness, the largest targeted veteran housing investment in Massachusetts history. The effort has now helped more than 1,000 veterans secure permanent or transitional housing while connecting veterans and their families with supportive services.
Governor Healey established EOVS as a Cabinet-level secretariat in 2023, giving veterans services a direct voice in the Governor’s Cabinet and bringing veterans benefits, housing, health care and advocacy under a dedicated executive office.
This week, EOVS, DPH and DMH will also lead the annual Governor’s Challenge conference, Serving Those Who Serve: Looking at Suicide Prevention Through Resilience. The event brings together behavioral health providers, first responders, academic leaders and others who support military members, veterans and their families for training and discussion on suicide prevention, postvention, military culture, moral injury and lethal means safety.
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