Veteran's Suicides, what can we as Military Community do?

2015-05-13T15:47:00-04:00

http://www.havokjournal.com/culture/veteran-kills-himself-at-the-va-a-failure-written-in-blood/

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made May 13 at 2015 3:50 PM

2015-05-13T15:50:21-04:00

Get the VA to get off their ass!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 13 at 2015 4:00 PM

2015-05-13T16:00:13-04:00

This is very tough to solve... Because I would imagine the motivators will be different for each person. I knew a person who committed suicide because they could not get their pain managed. The other military suicide was about a divorce and custody for the children...

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made May 13 at 2015 4:16 PM

2015-05-13T16:16:30-04:00

I think that we as a military social media need to come together and agree to reach out to all our congressional representatives and mail them and call them and visit them to push for better treatment for veterans health issues. One change can be to change the VA hiring practice so that veterans that have deployed experience and mental health education are hired. Another thing is a better discussion of possible side effects of immunization received given to soldiers/veterans and side effects of current medications. This should include the potential benefits of medicinal marijuana. The news media should should a complete investigative report on what happened and what went wrong, more so because it continues to happen.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 13 at 2015 5:13 PM

2015-05-13T17:13:19-04:00

I guess my positive actions will be to ID homeless veterans and link him/her up with the VA. My VA hospital has a domiciliary and much needed mental health care and addiction therapy.

Response by SSG Malcolm "Chris" Canada made May 13 at 2015 5:37 PM

2015-05-13T17:37:09-04:00

I believe it's truly important to stay connected with the brothers you served with. The Army, the 82nd Airborne, and my brothers from C co 1/504 PIR know me better than most everyone I know. In 2014, 11 Veterans who served in my unit committed suicide. Since then I have been sending friendly check ups to my old soldiers and brothers. I took an oath to protect my country from all enemies foreign and domestic. In my eyes that includes protecting Veterans and soldiers from themselves. Sometimes it takes a morale boost from a old familiar voice to get back on track. When I got out, my NCO mentality still remains. My doors and phone lines are always open to my Veteran brothers. No matter how busy I am I will always make time for them. WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN. The VA may never have the solution to this problem, but it doesn't mean that YOU as a Veteran or a service member are helpless to the situation. We all were taught to identify early waning signs. I didn't forget this after my ETS.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 13 at 2015 5:46 PM

2015-05-13T17:46:38-04:00

Veterans in our Nation kill themselves / commit suicide almost one per hour each day every day. They are Veterans both young and old, male & female. Is there a hidden common denominator at work ? ?. I believe there is. And it's called the **'No-Work-List'** . A list i believe i myself have been placed on along with countless numbers of former members of our Nations Armed Forces. The goal of the list / plan is to get the Veteran to submit / comply , by way of financial distress, with a system contaminated with deep seeded institutional corruption.

Being placed on the list causes financial distress for the Veteran and his family. Which in many cases drives the Veteran toward economic death followed by mental distress / spiritual death and actual physical death (SUICIDE). I am at the cusp of my research (SCIENCE) project. I am determined to establish the existence of the **'No-Work-List'** and present my findings to American Society , the public. Along with data on the correlation between Veteran Suicide and the existence and outcomes of the **'No-Work-List'** .

Response by SR Private RallyPoint Member made May 13 at 2015 10:15 PM

2015-05-13T22:15:47-04:00

I'm fresh out of boot camp but my dad always told me a story about an old Vietnam vet he met years ago. It turns out that the man was ready to take his life and if my father hadn't taken the time to thank him for his service he would have. Just let veterans know that we're still here for them.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made May 13 at 2015 11:11 PM

2015-05-13T23:11:15-04:00

I think it's important to make sure our brothers and sisters know they are not alone. Not just through the VA or DoD. It's not just their fight. It's not their friends dying. I am apart of a almost "phone tree roster" that nation wide if you need to talk to someone you don't have to call a 1800 number, you can call a vet. Yes we are not trained. But we are people who understand.

Response by SPC David S. made May 13 at 2015 11:38 PM

2015-05-13T23:38:19-04:00

I got evolved through the team veteran foundation. We are trying to start a national program dealing with this issue. We will be hiring vets to be trained to work with veterans in crisis. Check us out just google ttvfoundation. We are on Facebook as well

Response by SSG Michael Scott made Mar 14 at 2016 8:10 AM

2016-03-14T08:10:56-04:00

We can all work together with every military generation, young and old.