CLAYTON — An effort that started two years ago in Clayton’s village park has grown into a fledgling nonprofit organization whose impact can be seen across Lenawee County and is beginning to spread nationwide.
The goal is to call attention to — and reduce — the problem of veteran suicides in the United States. Because the suicide rate among veterans is estimated at an average of 22 people per day, organizers put out 22 American flags every day throughout the month of September. By month’s end, the result is a huge — and visually striking — field of flags, each with its own light, each representing a veteran who has been lost.
The project began in 2022 with neighbors Erika Behm and Denyelle Grubbs, who live next to Clayton’s village park. They started talking about it one night at a bonfire in Grubbs’ yard.
The committee that first year was small: Behm and Grubbs were joined by Behm’s father, Don; Brent “Peewee” Johnston; and Bill Deo, who maintains the grass in the park. They were helped by the village of Clayton and village president Shannon Johnston.
It was a shoestring operation at first — figuring things out as they went along and traveling from store to store, buying as many flags as they could at each stop.
Since that first display in 2022 in Clayton, the group has started working with other organizations to coordinate more displays, both in Lenawee County and elsewhere.
Now they’ve formed a nonprofit organization to manage the efforts. It’s called VALOR, an acronym for Veterans And Loved Ones’ Resources.
In 2023, the number of displays grew to seven.
This year, in addition to Clayton, there were displays at Tecumseh Assembly of God, at Siena Heights University, on North M-52 across from ProMedica Hickman Hospital, underneath the American Legion helicopter display on North Main Street, on the old Lenawee County Courthouse lawn, and in Hudson at the corner of M-34 and Munson Highway. There was also a display in Hillsdale and one at the Veterans Administration medical center in Ann Arbor. As members of the group spread the word to their friends and family in other places, a few displays have been created out-of-state as well. Each display is managed by a partner organization.
Organizers say that the statistic of 22 per day hits home differently when you see an entire field of flags and can picture what the number really means and the people behind the statistic.
“Once you start putting out 22 a day … it hits you what the flags and lights represent,” said Scott Gray, who serves as president of the new nonprofit.
Gray estimated it costs about $2,000 to put together a display, a figure that includes the flags themselves, the solar-powered lights that keep them illuminated all night, and signage.
Living next door to the Clayton display, Behm and Grubbs have been able to get an up-close look at how the sight of 660 flags, each representing somebody whose light has been lost to the world, affects people.
“I get a lot of amazement,” Grubbs said. “They are overwhelmed with emotion, especially if they are a veteran themselves or a loved one who has lost someone.”
“You see people come down and they just sit there and stare, and go through their emotions, and walk through it to grasp everything,” she added.
Organizers also use the display to publicize resources that are available for veterans, with the intent of providing hope to anyone who may be feeling hopeless.
The end of each year’s project is marked with a ceremony. This year, the Hudson American Legion offered a 21-gun salute.
At the end of the ceremony, the flags are gathered up and, because it is likely that some of them touched the ground at some point during the 30 days, they are retired in the traditional way, by burning.
For anyone who would like more information about VALOR, a Facebook page maintained by the group can be found here.
