Twenty-five people walked from Miller Shelter at Butler Memorial Park to American Legion Post 117 on Sunday to raise awareness for veterans lost to suicide.

It’s no accident that it happened on the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“That’s exactly the reason we did it,” said Post 117 Commander Jim Dittmer. “I realize 9-11 was about first responders, but it’s still about the (veterans’) service of the country. It’s to bring enough attention to get people aware. Why are we losing veterans to suicide? It’s from not being an adequate system because if it was adequate this wouldn’t be happening.”

Around 25 people participated in the walk, the first of its kind in Butler. People representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard waved flags as they walked to represent each branch of the military.

“We had a nice turnout,” Dittmer said. “More than I thought for the first time we did it.”

Dittmer said that care for veterans needs to improve before the suicides will stop.

“I’ll go so far as to say it’s from the lack of adequate help from the government,” he said. “There are more veterans committing suicide than dying in combat.”

According to the most recent report by the Department of Veterans Affairs, an average of 20 veterans died by suicide per day in 2014.

Veteran suicides made up 18 percent of all suicides among U.S. adults in 2014, which is a decrease from 22 percent in 2010 but a 32 percent increase since 2001.

Veterans make up less than 9 percent of the U.S. population.

Accounting for age and gender, the risk of suicide is 21 percent greater for veterans than it is for other groups. Since 2001, the rate of suicide among U.S. veterans who use VA services increased by 8.8 percent, while the rate of suicide among veterans who don’t use VA services increased by 38.6 percent.

“VA believes every veteran suicide is a tragic outcome,” said Pete Albert, suicide prevention coordinator at VA Butler Healthcare. “One veteran suicide is too many, regardless of the numbers or rates. We continue to spread the world that ‘suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility.’ By participating in this weekend’s suicide awareness walk, we hoped to bring this message to the Butler community.”

In a news release, the VA listed a number of its suicide prevention measures, including its toll-free veterans crisis line, large outpatient facilities and improvements to case management and tracking.

The release also mentioned using predictive modeling to determine which veterans may be at highest risk of suicide, so intervention can happen early.

It also noted that the VA provides same-day care to veterans with urgent mental health needs, among a number of other strategies to prevent suicide among veterans.