What Can Reactions to Veteran Suicide Tell Us About Patriotism in the United States?

Abstract: In the United States, patriotism has meant many things. The ultimate definition, though, is one where a military member’s death is offered as a sacrifice in service of his or her country: “The irrefutable sign of national faith, which we call patriotism, is making one’s body an offering, a sacrifice” (Marvin & Ingle, 1999, p. 15). Every person who signs up for the military knows that (s)he may be required to die in order to complete the mission or ensure one’s comrades are safe. When one thinks of military death, scenes of enemy combat first come to mind. But in the United States, there is another, far more deadly, cause of death for current and former members of the military: suicide. From 2003 to 2017, there were just over 4,400 American fatalities from combat; in 2014 alone, over 7,300 veterans killed themselves. Unfortunately, this is nothing new; suicide has long been recognized as a problem in the veteran community. This article argues that perceptions of and reactions to veteran suicide by fellow veterans tell us several things about how early 21st century American veterans interpret patriotism. To better explore this subject, we reflect on themes gathered from qualitative interviews with American veterans about suicide prevention strategies. The interviews revealed that patriotism is conceptualized as three things: as loyalty, as a perfomative value, and as a value that generates obligations from multiple levels of society.