We Are Looking For A Few Good Veterans, To Join Our Mission To Prevent Suicide

RallyPoint News — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 15:18:24 -0400

We need your input to save lives! WeBe – a digital well being company– is working with the Department of Defense to support suicide prevention efforts. If you’re a Veteran - or Family Member of someone who is serving or has served – join this conversation and learn how you can help.

Response by SGT Ruben Lozada made Mar 15 at 2024 3:35 PM

SGT Ruben Lozada — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 15:35:14 -0400

Good afternoon. Excellent post. Thank you for sharing this on RP.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Mar 16 at 2024 6:23 PM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 18:23:17 -0400

thanks for sharing

Response by TSgt Daniel Newman made Mar 18 at 2024 11:36 AM

TSgt Daniel Newman — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 11:36:40 -0400

How can I help my fellow veteran?

Response by 1SG Cavalry Scout Schofield Barracks made Mar 21 at 2024 6:42 AM

1SG Cavalry Scout Schofield Barracks — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 06:42:25 -0400

Dan W. Dagovitz
1SG, retired.

I would be proud to do anything to help my soldiers. What can I do to help.

As a sidebar let me say that the best mechanism for getting the pulse of the troops and discovering problems before they become severe was the morning Platoon Sergeant/1SG walk through. I learned more about my troops at 05:15 then I could during the day when we were busy. Many of them are suffering from " home sickness" and just sitting down and talking to them as well as fellow soldiers mentoring them goes a long way to preventing suicide.

Response by PO3 Jon Harren made Mar 22 at 2024 3:32 PM

PO3 Jon Harren — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 15:32:18 -0400

1. I have to give you my personal info - name, email address, and phone # - so I can answer questions about suicide? 2 words: data mining.

2. Where on the survey page is a link to your web site and an explanation of what you're going to do with the data? 2a. A quick read of your LinkedIn makes me think you want to collect info to develop programs you can sell to someone. Are you paying vets for their info? No, of course not.

3. What you might do is encourage colleges and the mental-health industry to create serious professional mental-health programs - instead of the jargon-filled vacuous pap they offer now.

3a. And get the VA to provide confidential suicide counseling. Right now you risk being put a list and "mental health information collected by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is being transferred to the FBI so patients can be added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)"

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"Founded 2021, WeBe Life, Inc. (“WeBe”) is a profitable digital health company led by internationally recognized experts in mental health and suicide prevention as well as innovative product, program, and technology strategists, and talented communications professionals." [And I see I need to give you my personal info to learn more about your company.]

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 23 at 2024 8:14 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 20:14:04 -0400

Last time I volunteered it resulted in nothing.

Response by LT Marsha Holden made Mar 24 at 2024 5:03 AM

LT Marsha Holden — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 05:03:04 -0400

My oldest son committed suicide. He was 23 years old. He had everything to live for. He served in the Army and really loved it! He had said if he could have signed up for 20 years in the beginning, he would have. Life after he got out wasn’t easy for him. His wife divorced him and wouldn’t let him see his child, couldn’t find a job worth doing and couldn’t go back to college because his wife hounded him for child support. He became depressed. My husband and I tried to talk to him. He lived far enough away so that it took at least two hours to get to his house so he wasn’t close by. The day he decided to do the deed, he wasn’t far away. He was on the way home and called me to tell me he would be home in about thirty minutes. We talked for awhile, he asked about his little brother,(who had just been suspended that day from school for acting like an idiot), when I told him he asked to talk to him. I let them talk a few minutes; and that was it. We waited for him to get home. The next thing that happened was the sound of the ambulance driving down the highway. We heard it, and ignored the noise. The town is small and we always hear highway traffic. Then, we heard a knock at the door. The coroner was there with a policeman to tell me my son was dead. Oh my God! Luckily my younger son was standing with me because I fainted. I could not believe this was happening! Everyone picked me up and got me inside. I saw my husband through the window coming home from work and I ran out to greet him with the terrible news. He was absolutely devastated and wanted to immediately know how it happened. We went inside and the coroner explained what the situation was because it was unexpected. That he stopped his car on a side road off the highway cut his jugular vein and both wrists and bled to death sitting in the car. Someone who lived on the road saw the car and called the police. The date was 15 December 1995 , he was coming home for my birthday,(23rd), and Christmas.

Response by Capt James Winterson made Mar 27 at 2024 7:37 PM

Capt James Winterson — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 19:37:08 -0400

Good to see how much work has been done on the stigma against mental illness over the past several years, for both military people and civilians.

Response by SFC William Stephens A. Jr., 3 MSM, JSCM made Apr 11 at 2024 8:32 PM

SFC William Stephens A. Jr., 3 MSM, JSCM — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 20:32:24 -0400

I wrote a book about PTSD and I am willing to share the digtasl copy with any veteran who is struggling...

Response by SPC James McCullough made Apr 15 at 2024 12:16 PM

SPC James McCullough — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 12:16:02 -0400

IMHO, and I speak from a point of first hand experience, what needs to be done, and done on the double time is this. Scrap, the VA’s system, scrap the crisis line system and rebuild both from the beginning.

The chances that a Veteran will reach out for help will be extremely more likely if we are not in fear that these people whom we are seeking help from or simply just needing to talk to a calm person that will listen, will be much more likely to happen if we’re not in fear that we will be reported.

As it currently stands, be it the VA or the Veteran Crisis Line, or as I now refer to it
“VETERAN SUICIDE BY COP HOTLINE”, it’s extremely unlikely that a Veteran would call in more than once, especially if the Veteran revealed any PII (Personal Identity Info)… Who the hell ever decided that calling the police on a Veteran in crisis should be SOP is a fucking idiot.

What were they fuckin thinking?.. Veterans are going to be in the midst of a crisis and just of a sudden they have this stroke of absolute brilliance, this intuitive realization that causes them to think “Of Course, That’s It” “That’s The Answer I’ve Been Seeking”… I am sorry to bust your bubble VA, as well yours Crisis Line. But the calling in for fire on our own positions is not the answer. Not at all. This needs to stop and it needs to stop now.

I once seen approximately 15 uniformed LE personnel armed with AR-15’s and 12GA pumps that had taken up positions around a man’s home, they had formed a military tactical envelope on this position. I also noted that perched upon a balcony of an adjacent structure there were two more LE personnel with scoped BA riles. It appeared to me both of those officers were scanning thru their optics in an attempt to acquire a shot picture. My first thought was “I Wonder If All These Fellas Were Summonsed By The Veterans Crisis Line?” Well, three days later I learned thru a news paper article that no one was injured, or worse, and it ended with the man surrendering peacefully and taken into custody. Thats very fortunate I thought. What wasn’t fortunate is what I read in the next paragraph , turns out I was right in a sense. The man, he was a veteran in crisis. No mention of the crisis line. But similar situations play out across this Country almost daily, and when LE personnel are dispatched to these scenes, quite often it’s because of the wrong things said by a Veteran during a call to the “Crisis Line”.

What the VA and the “Suicide By Cop Hotline” fail to factor in is this: “LE PERSONELL ARE NOT MH PROFESSIONALS”, In fact, that have a pretty fucked up track record in these situations. Don’t take this last statement wrong, I don’t blame LE ( For most), They are only doing as they are trained, eliminating the threat as quickly and efficiently as possible…

Now, I just did something I really hate to do and often bitch when others do it. That is, to complain about something without offering an alternative, so for that I am factually guilty. However, due to the nature of the subject, I will pardon myself. I hope everyone will also pardon me. Let’s figure this shit out folks, cause what we got ain’t fuckin cutin it.

Response by Chris Tressler made Apr 17 at 2024 4:58 AM

Chris Tressler — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 04:58:10 -0400

Suicide shouldn't be the aim of anyone's life. In everyone's life there could be up and down. But why someone should kill himself? I'm really confused about it.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Apr 17 at 2024 4:16 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:16:04 -0400

People who have severe PTSD should have contact cards with phone numbers. A plan is better than no plan.

Response by MSgt Veronica Cook made Apr 29 at 2024 3:04 PM

MSgt Veronica Cook — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 15:04:27 -0400

Military in general don't want to hear from people like me. WOMEN are also Veterans. I will give honesty, but NEVER Underestimate.