Suicides are to be honored by the living.

At Thermopylae, the epitaph by Simonides of the 300 is inscribed into rock: “Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.”
The day of death is to be memorialized as a day of birth, a birthday, instructs Augustine, bishop of Hippo. The bishop admonishes: “The birthday of the blessed martyr has dawned, and it is God’s will that we share with you in celebrating it.”

For “the martyrs were filled with charity, they endured all suffering in charity.” “That is why it is not the punishment that makes a martyr, but the cause.” They are given “crowns of indescribable beauty”; “honoured among the angels”; and, “glorified on earth.”

In his “sermon on the feast of a martyr,” Augustine concludes: “make the invisible goals of the martyrs your aim … prepare your spirit to endure …”[1]

On April 14, 2004, Corporal Dunham was killed in action in Iraq while saving members of his squad. The Medal of Honor citation reads, in part:

As they approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Corporal Dunham. Corporal Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade. Corporal Dunham immediately alerted his fellow Marines to the threat. Aware of the imminent danger and without hesitation, Corporal Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast. In an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty, Corporal Dunham gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

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Augustine, “The sermon of the blessed bishop Augustine on the feat of the martyr,” Sermon 335C, in Political Writings, 53-57.