I am not a veteran. I am a member of the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary. But in 1991, personal loss brought me to a place I never left.

Over two decades later, that loss led me to the State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown, Connecticut, where I took on the coordination of Wreaths Across America — which grew into the largest and fastest growing veterans program in the state. I didn’t do it for recognition. I did it for them.

In 2016 I founded the Connecticut Veterans Bulletin. Not because I served, but because I believe those who did deserve to be honored, connected, and kept alive.

Twenty-two veterans die by suicide every day. I knew about that number before it became a hashtag. I knew it personally, long before anyone was talking about it.

This publication exists because that number is unacceptable. Because every veteran in Connecticut deserves to know someone gives a damn.

That someone is me.