Today, Memorial Day, we remember all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and for each of us.

This morning, I participated in Gloucester’s Memorial Day service agreeing with each speaker that today is a day to remember the sacrifice of each solider and each soldier’s family.

However, I added another item for the audience to think about: it’s estimated conservatively that each day, we lose 22 soldiers to suicide, 22 soldiers. A platoon by definition is 26 soldiers; therefore, we lose approximately, a platoon of soldiers each day after they return home safely from war and conflict oversees.

This is unacceptable and we need to do more to stand up to those who have stood up for us!

I am pleased to say that the Massachusetts through legislation known as the Valor Act I and II does more for our veterans than any other state. However, the federal government needs to catch up.

Last week, I committed to sign on to a resolution calling on the federal government to address this situation.

I ask you to do the same and to call our federally elected officials and to tell them that giving our veteran’s the services they need to address issues of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other issues must be a priority.

To our veterans who are reading this, thank you for your service!

To all of the family members of veterans, thank you for your sacrifice.

To all, thank you for your attention to this matter and I hope you enjoyed this beautiful and blessed day.