Warfighter Overwatch: Local organization promotes resiliency in veterans
CONTENT WARNING: This article contains information regarding suicide. If you are struggling with depression or have thoughts of suicide, there is help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free number, 1-800-273-TALK(8255).
SACRAMENTO — A local organization is helping prevent veteran suicide by focusing on mental health, resiliency and building camaraderie among veterans who return from war.
Veterans are at 57% higher risk of suicide than those who haven't served. Danny O'Neel, the co-founder of Warfighter Overwatch, says he lost nine friends in combat and 15 friends to suicide since returning home.
O'Neel says it has to do with isolation. Squad Recon, one of their flagship programs, tackles that by re-uniting veterans who served together.
The organization facilitates reunions by contacting veterans from across the country to meet up and reconnect for a weekend. Many of them haven't seen each other since serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"Just because I served, doesn't mean I don't have a lot of good stuff in front of me. I have to seek that out and get after it every day. I have to live my life worthy of the sacrifice these people of this wall behind me made. I will never forget what they gave me," O'Neel said.
Alexander Thomson, an Army veteran who served for more than nine years, participated in the program. After six months of organizing a trip, Thomson met several members of his unit, some of them he had not seen since he was in Iraq. Thomson and his brothers-in-arms gathered in Georgia to hike Currahee Mountain last week.
"It was like the brotherhood was put back together again and it was just absolutely amazing," Thomson said.
If you would like to learn more about Warfighter Overwatch, go here.