A unique memorial is planned to commemorate military veterans who have lost their battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to suicide.
(FOX)- The Forgotten Warrior Memorial Wall, to be erected in Channahon State Park, outside Chicago, will also serve as a national reminder of all those who suffer the invisible but potentially devastating mental and emotional wounds of war.
The people behind the project also hope it will bring closure to the many families mourning their fallen heroes.
The memorial, scheduled to open in November, was funded through individual donations to Chicago-based nonprofit K9s For Veteran Warriors, according to The Herald-News.
The organization’s CEO, Michael Tellerino, told LifeZette no memorials exist for the countless veterans who have taken their own lives while fighting a different war at home — PTSD.
The memorial will cost more than $80,000. It will be constructed in an existing circular area of the park and will be made mainly of granite, according to The News-Herald.
Tellerino initially wanted to etch the names of each veteran lost to PTSD into the memorial itself, but said that would be an exhaustive process to get the name of every single veteran who committed suicide from the VA.