MANSFIELD — Seth Haapanen’s portrait overlooked the crosswalk at North Diamond Street and Park Avenue East. He is pictured smiling in his Army National Guard uniform.
Twenty-four other framed portraits of veterans lined the grass in front of the Richland County Courthouse on Saturday, Sept. 14. Volunteers stood silently next to a casket with an American flag draped over it in 20-minute shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Members of the Mansfield Noon Optimist Club were among the volunteers in the “Silent Watch” on Saturday. Ashland resident and Afghanistan veteran Tim Chandler founded the organization in 2009.
“When you stand for the Silent Watch, you raise awareness about veteran suicide and and you help save lives,” Chandler said. “The first step is awareness, and when we raise awareness, we can get more people to treatment.”
Silent Watch funds stellate ganglion block treatments for veterans, which is an experimental treatment for PTSD that helps neutralize someone’s fight-or-flight responses. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to approve SGB for clients because of inconclusive evidence.
Organizations like Silent Watch pay for medical and travel costs for veterans who want to try the treatment.
“It’s an injection in the neck, where those nerves are,” Chandler said. “I was a different person after that treatment. It brought back my life and a whole new sense of joy for me.”
Noon Optimist Club connects Miss Ohio with Silent Watch
Mansfield Noon Optimist Club president Dave Siebold first heard of Silent Watch when he was living in Findlay around 10-15 years ago.
“We had a family friend who had organized a watch in honor of their family member Gavin,” Siebold said. “So I had stood for that watch and researched their website to find out it was founded in Ashland.
“We have a number of veterans in the Noon Optimist Club, so it’s something close to our hearts.”
The Mansfield Noon Optimist Club participated in a Silent Watch last year with 2023 Miss Ohio Madison Miller, who founded The Veteran Narrative.
Silent Watch hosts events in National Suicide Prevention Month and through the year to raise awareness of veteran suicide. It also supports family members through the grieving process if they have lost veterans to suicide.
Michele Hawks, a co-founder of Silent Watch, said some frames at Silent Watches have photos in them and others are blank.
“Most of the portraits here are people from Ohio,” she said. “There are many families who feel that it’s healing to display their loved one’s photo during these watches, and they’re always welcome to reach out to us.
“There are 25 faced photos and 22 blank frames to represent the average veteran suicides that will occur tomorrow.”
Hawks’ brother Seth Haapanen, an Army National Guard veteran, took his life in 2008.
“It was two weeks after his 22nd birthday,” Hawks said. “You can see from the photos here that it’s not specific to a branch, age, gender — suicide affects everyone.
“The Silent Watch has three tiers to the work we do because of that, we want to raise awareness of resources, prevent suicides and increase treatment, and support family members who have been affected.”
Those interested in supporting Silent Watch or hosting their own event can contact the team at silentwatch22@gmail.com or 419-571-6900. The organization is also on Facebook.
Scheduled Silent Watches are viewable online, including a Sept. 21 event in Bucyrus and a Sept. 29 event in Ashland.
