Non-profit dedicated to veteran suicide prevention as month of awareness ends
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - September, Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, is coming to an end, but the need to help those who are struggling continues – especially for America's veterans.
The veteran suicide rate is 57% higher than the national average, according to a report from the VA.
"We are losing out on a valuable resource as a country, as states, communities and families," said Cole Lyle, the executive director of Mission Roll Call, a nonpartisan veterans advocacy group.
When the North Texas native left the Marine Corps, he struggled with post-traumatic stress during an already difficult time of transition.
"Didn't have job, wasn't going to school, going through a tough divorce, so I almost became a veteran suicide statistic," Lyle said.
An estimated 30,177 active-duty personnel and veterans of post-9/11 conflicts have died by suicide, according to research out of the Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs out of Brown University. That's at least four times the number of those who died in combat.
Mission Roll Call wants the Department of Veterans Affairs to make suicide prevention its number one priority and to increase grant funding for organizations on the ground.
"Because 50% of veterans in the US don't use the VA," Lyle said. "We're never going to solve this problem if we're only reaching half the veterans. These grant organizations have touchpoints in the veteran community that frankly, the VA will never have."
Mission Roll Call polled veterans in North Texas and found there are more resources for veterans here than in other parts of the country, but there are still those who are falling through the cracks.
"One of the keys is to insulate instead of isolate that veteran," said Retired U.S. Army Major David Martin, "In other words, pack in around them others who may not understand everything but show understanding."
Martin's military career began at West Point and included multiple combat tours, missions in more than 20 countries, and experience commanding a Special Forces team.
"There was something that really came alive, and that's hard to replicate when you're not being so fully engaged in your purpose," he said.
But it took a toll on his growing family. Martin remembers the way his youngest daughter looked at him as a stranger when he returned from Yemen.
"I was deployed since she was about two months old, and she really didn't know me when I can home," said Martin.
So he made the decision to retire from active duty.
"That aspect of transition – going from a deployed environment to coming back and not even having a desk – was fairly abrupt," he said. "What do I do now, now that I no longer do X? Who am I, outside of rank and last name?"
Losing that sense of identity, along with the community you develop, is tough.
"You spend 8 to 13 weeks in boot camp learning how to be in the military, but you don't spend near the same amount of time transitioning back out," Lyle said.
When you add in financial, relational, and employment struggles, it can become a crisis. Lyle says forming meaningful connections in the community is key.
"Donate your time or your treasure to an organization that's local to you," he said. "There are plenty in the Dallas-Fort Worth area."
Serving others who have served this country has helped give Martin a new purpose.
"They need others who have not only been there but can shine a light on the path out of those situations," said Martin.
If you are struggling, you can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255 and press 1.