On Saturday, Aug. 7, a group of citizens, veterans, police officers and town officials gathered at the Veterans Memorial Garden to add a new marker to the many others lining the paths of this place of honor. It memorializes those members of the armed forced who lost their lives to invisible wounds of war, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, depression, and substance abuse.

The project, a collaboration between the Bristol Veterans Council and the Matthew Patton Foundation, has been nearly eight years in the making.\

“I first had the idea that these service members should be memorialized not long after Matthew died,” said Lynn Patton, his mother. Matthew Patton suffered from depression and PTSD following a deployment to Afghanistan, and died by suicide in May of 2013 while still on active duty with the Army. “I came up with the words for the memorial and Karl (Antonevich, vice president of the Bristol Veterans Council) took it from there.”

“Lynn and I bounced around some ideas,” said Mr. Antonevich of the memorial, funded by the Veterans Council and created by the Warren Monument Company. “We’re so grateful for the support of the town officials, the Bristol Police, who sent several officers to the unveiling, and to the Department of Public Works. They’re always here for us and deserve so much credit for this Memorial Garden.”

It’s the mission of the Matthew Patton Foundation to improve the military mental health system while honoring the memories of all service members who have died by suicide. “We need to educate people about these invisible mounds of war,” said Ms. Patton. “Their manner of death should not impact how we memorialize them.”