On September 13, 2026, several hundred people journeyed to the National Elysium Memorial in Alrewas, Staffordshire, England, dedicated to veterans and active-duty personnel who have died by suicide.
This is the first permanent memorial in England of its kind to be built. In the last thirty (30) years, over 1,300 active-duty and military veterans in England have taken their lives.
Edward MacKenzie, a co-founder of the Elysium Memorial Foundation, said the Veterans Elysium Memorial is focused on providing a place for contemplation for those affected by the loss of a loved one or friend.
Mackenzie joined the British Army when he turned eighteen (18) years old and participated in fourteen (14) operational tours. In 1999, while serving in Macedonia, he received a call informing him that his best friend had died by suicide.
A thirty (30) year Army veteran, MacKenzie has lost over twenty (20) veteran friends to suicide, including his best friend.
He said, “Seeing those veterans being recognized means everything. This is why I did it, I did for, the friends, the families, the comrades, those that we’ve lost to suicide.”
“There’s a lot of families here today that have been thanking me for achieving this memorial, so I’m incredibly grateful,” stated MacKenzie.
“I’m lost for words a lot of the time, and I hope that this memorial will really help towards the mental health and families and basically taking the word suicide out of the shadows,” he concluded.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, between 2006 and 2025, there were 277 cases reported of veterans taking their own lives. were
“Any death by suicide is a tragedy that is felt across our community, and our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by the loss of a loved one,” a spokesperson at the Elysium Memorial dedication said.
The Elysium Memorial is designed with five (5) Yorkshire sandstone plinths arranged in a circle, and is named after the ancient Greek concept of the Elysian Fields — a place reserved for the righteous and heroes.
At its center stands The Weary Hero, a stone sculpture, symbolizing the physical and mental toll of military service.
This site offers a contemplative space, offering families, friends and colleagues a special place to hold their loved ones in their thoughts, honor their service and reflect together as one.
In the United States, there is an active proposal for a Memorial Mile National Monument (in the New York Pocono Mountains) to honor veterans who have died by suicide. The land is owned by the VALOR Clinic Foundation, a veterans’ nonprofit organization.
The Memorial Mile will feature fifty-two (52) eight-foot yellow granite monuments spaced along the one (1) mile nature trail. Each monument will represent one of the fifty (50) states, including the District of Columbia and United States territories.
The VALOR Clinic anticipates that the monuments will be engraved with the names of more than 170,000 service members who have committed suicide in all the wars and conflicts that the United States was engaged in.
Although the VALOR Clinic Foundation is accepting names and donations, there is no opening date envisioned for the completion of the project.
The 2025 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report was recently released, and the 2023 state-level suicide findings were published within the Annual Report. The State of Ohio listed 254 veterans taking their lives in 2023.
My opinion: The National Elysium Memorial was established by the Elysium Memorial Foundation. The Memorial Mile National Monument is being proposed by the VALOR Clinic Foundation.
From the photographs, the Elysium Memorial is small (five Yorkshire sandstone plinths in a circle with a statue in the center) and located in a corner of a cemetery.
On the other hand, the Memorial Mile National Monument is composed of 52 eight-foot-high yellow granite stones with perhaps 170,000 names engraved on them. The location is in the remote Pocono Mountains (in upstate New York), on land owned by the VALOR Clinic.
As for the question, does the United States need a similar monument for spouses, relatives and friends to contemplate the loss of a veteran?
My response is: If it comforts, eases, or relieves the existing pain experienced by spouses, relatives and friends, then yes.
However, the memorial should be on public land (in the Washington, D.C. area) at an easily accessible location.
John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran who served from 1967 to 1999. He is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio’s Hospital Chairman and Adjutant of Chapter #63 (Clermont County).
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