Staff Reports
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao stepped in front of the camera on Carl Higbie FRONTLINE this Memorial Day and did something a lot of politicians avoid: he named a real problem and didn’t dress it up in platitudes. He talked about honoring the fallen — and about the living who are quietly dying by their own hands. That combination deserves attention, not another round of hollow ceremonies.
Acting Secretary Hung Cao’s blunt, needed message
On Newsmax’s Carl Higbie FRONTLINE, Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao didn’t mince words. “Too many of them have taken their own lives, and we’ve got to make it stop,” he said, calling veteran suicide a crisis that refuses to be ignored. Cao also reminded viewers he knows sacrifice up close — he spoke about commissioning his son as a Marine Corps second lieutenant and about waking up “one day without a flag to stand under.” Those lines weren’t meant to score talking-point points. They were a reminder that leadership means feeling the stakes personally.
Veteran suicide: the numbers and the stakes
The numbers are grim and steady. VA reports show roughly 6,300–6,400 veterans die by suicide each year in the latest data sets. That’s more than a statistic — it’s a national failure. Cao’s call on Memorial Day came at a time when Congress is nudging policy forward with measures to track and prevent suicides on VA campuses and to beef up prevention programs. Good. But legislative nudges need real follow‑through. The Defense Department, Navy and VA must make prevention concrete: better transition programs, faster mental‑health access, and real accountability when systems fail veterans.
Leadership matters — and talk alone won’t cut it
Cao rose quickly into the acting top civilian role after a rocky leadership change at the Navy. That context matters. When someone wearing the title Acting Secretary of the Navy talks about veteran suicide, you can’t treat it like a ceremonial sentence and move on. The American public — and our sailors and Marines — deserves clear plans, timelines and results. If Cao’s words are more than a holiday sound bite, he’ll push for specific Navy steps that tie into VA efforts and he’ll insist on oversight so money and programs actually reach troubled veterans.
Final thoughts: honor the fallen by saving the living
Memorial Day is for remembrance. It should also be a day for resolve. Acting Secretary Hung Cao used the platform to demand we stop losing veterans to suicide. That demand should wake up more than the media. Congress, the Pentagon and VA must turn resolve into results. Otherwise, our ceremonies will become excuses — expensive photo ops for people who like to posture while the real work goes undone. If Cao really means it, let him lead the charge to fix what the numbers keep breaking.
