Remembering the Other Veterans on Memorial Day

I’m a veteran. I joined the Army as a naïve 18-year-old in 1985 and left four years later as a different person. As I have said on many occasions, I would not be a law professor today if I hadn’t been a truck driver in the Army when I was 18.

I’m also a death penalty researcher, and so on Memorial Day—as we remember the brave service members who gave their lives for our country—I cannot help but think about another, less venerable group of veterans who also lost their lives as a consequence of serving our country.

Last year, just over 1 in 5 of the people we executed in this country were veterans—deeply damaged people who suffered from PTSD and other serious mental health conditions, almost invariably after serving their country in combat. And 2025 was no anomaly. Over the past 50 years, veterans have accounted for approximately 15 percent of the people we have executed. These are people who served in Vietnam. They served in Iraq. They served in Afghanistan and GITMO.

The ugly truth is that we broke these people, they did terrible things as a result, and then we killed them because they were broken.

Thinking about veterans with PTSD from their combat services provides a different perspective on the narrative “they deserve it.” Every one of these forgotten soldiers was more than the worst thing they had ever done. And every one of them had a story that was tied to their service for our country. On Memorial Day, I pause to remember these veterans, too.