HARRISONBURG, Va. (ROCKTOWN NOW) – Memorial Day is for honoring the fallen, but one national veterans support group is recruiting everyday Americans to check in on the heroes that remain.

The organization Check-A-Vet is rallying folks to join the fight against veteran suicide by engaging meaningfully with the vets in their communities.

CEO Michael Carmichael, a U-S Army veteran himself, said on the Mike Schickman Show that the group starts with “slapping people in the face” about the number of vets taking their own lives.

“Then we want to use that inertia to get Americans involved in veteran’s lives, establish that base of support,” Carmichael said. “And then the third thing we do nationally is provide resources to help the helpers of veterans to keep them safe.”

A Department of Veterans Affairs report shows that in 2021, about 18 veterans died by their own hand every day.