Veterans, please reach out for help

It has not been a fun 100 days.

However, being with our family here seems to be the thing to do as we enter our golden years. Fear of death and the financial impact upon your spouse from it can lead to some very difficult but necessary decisions and, though we are happy to be near family, we have a sad sense of loss after having to leave Citrus County, a place I’ve always described as one of the greatest places in America, if not the world, to reside.

I will never, ever, forget many things down there. Particularly, as a veteran being able to perhaps help veterans in the VFW post where I was the commander, or at the church where I served. Plus, there were my golf buddies, many of whom were also veterans and we enjoyed military brotherhood.

Of course, they are now driving fancy cars from winning most of my money and forcing me to continually buy adult refreshments rounds at the 19th hole while reminiscing about our service. It was a comradery causing me to now be alone at night with pain in my chest, not caused by a bad heart, but by the loss of veteran togetherness shared while chasing a stupid white ball around the fairways, woods and ponds. Mostly in the woods and ponds for me.

The only busy part for me while in recovery has been attempting to write articles about veterans here in the Chronicle. Accomplished due to the outstanding support (with much-needed behind-the-scenes editing) and patience of the Chronicle staff, especially by Sarah Gatling.

Also, after having a physician suggest it years ago, writing became a great remedy for one of my health conditions after the debilitating effects of Agent Orange exposure from service in the Vietnam War and Thailand. It is also why I have a publication to help veterans that is unbelievably printed and mailed for free by Inkspot Media in Dunnellon. They and the Chronicle staff are so very supportive of our veterans.

The most difficult task faced, outside of writing, has been my inability after leaving Citrus County to work with our veterans and their families. So many need our help and I hope to begin doing so here at our new home after recovery.

As an example, this past week I experienced one of the worst scenarios I’ve faced in the decades of supporting our veterans and I wanted to tell you about it.

I recently wrote an article in the Chronicle about veterans PTSD and suicide in the hope it would inform them not only why, but how, to get help, not realizing at that time that I had a chance to possibly help one local veteran. On that point, I failed miserably. Let me explain.

We have a small veterans group here that meets each Saturday morning at random locations in town for coffee where they sit and swap stories of service, talk about their health problems from it, discuss sources for benefits, tell tall tales and many more subjects as brothers-in-arms. I belonged to the group many years ago when previously living here in the frozen north and always enjoyed their comradery. However, after our recent relocation and health issues, I have only recently been able to attend three gatherings.

During my first two sessions with them, I met a nice young former veteran now employed locally with parents in the area who also moved from out-of-state to be nearby family, as we recently did. He was a single parent and though quiet by nature, he opened up and we discussed his military service, civilian employment and other personal subjects.

At the third meeting he brought his young son and, as they sat alongside my wife and I, we enjoyed their presence as we talked about life in general. Frankly, looking back, I should have spent more time with him. I should have been aware that he had some underlying difficulties and as a veteran, as a retired pastor, and as a human being I should have known he was struggling. But, I did not.

Sadly, it was our last meeting. This past week, prior to our fourth meeting, that nice young man, that veteran, committed suicide.

It has been a difficult week for many people. Obviously, the family and his friends are in tremendous shock and sadness. For me, it has been unbelievably hard to deal with when I realize that perhaps I could have done something to prevent this tragedy, especially with that article I wrote about PTSD and suicide.

I guess I was lazy or preoccupied in finishing the article and it was not published until a couple days after his passing.

Maybe, just maybe, if I had written it a week earlier he would have read it on the our group’s website and Facebook page where I post some of these articles. Maybe, after reading it, he would have reached out for help. Maybe, he would have contacted me and I could have gotten him that help.

There are many other veterans out there needing help and I hope and pray they will reach out for it before making a terrible decision. I recently read some statistics reported by the Veterans Administration about veterans suicides. Though the number has supposedly dropped slightly these past two years, in 2020 there were 6,146 veteran suicides and for those ages 35-54, the rate increased by 12.9 percent; for those ages 55-74, the rate increased by 58.2 percent; and for those age 75 and older, the rate increased by 21.2 percent.

Many are suffering from mental and physical health issues resulting from their military service. It has been reported that cancer and heart disease are the leading causes of veterans deaths. I assume that in addition to military service trauma those diseases also are a contributing cause because in 2019 veterans 55-74 years of age most often committed suicide, accounting for 38.6 percent of veteran suicides that year.

I am deeply concerned about what the percentages will reach as veterans from the most recent 20-year war enter their golden years and retirement.

When you look at the numbers who served in the Vietnam War and Iraq and Afghanistan, they are similar. Around 2.7 million for each one, however, the number of tours in these wars were significantly different.

The most tours served by any veteran in the Vietnam War was five, with one or two being the norm. Of those who deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 43 percent deployed multiple times. Nearly two-thirds deployed twice, one-fourth deployed three times and about 15 percent deployed four or more times.

The most deployments over there by a veteran was 14. Because of those numbers, as I previously indicated, I very firmly believe that 55-74 age group will see a significant increase in suicides as those of this most recent 20-year war enter that age bracket.

Also, veterans of it account for more than half of the severely disabled veteran population. Living with physical and emotional scars despite many having a lack of disability status, have outstanding claims, or simply refuse to get help.

It is the responsibility of our country to reach out help our veterans; however, it is also a responsibility for veterans is to reach out for help and not become a statistic of death.

Help is available for veterans by contacting the 24/7 VA Crisis Line by dialing 988, then press 1. They can also chat live at www.veteranscrisisline.net/get-help-now/chat/, or text 838255. A caring, qualified responder will listen and help. Veterans don’t have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to call because it is free and confidential and you decide how much information to share.

I pray that no more families and friends suffer the situation we recently experienced here that I very seriously feel partially responsible for when I could have possibly prevented an unnecessary tragedy. A duplicate situation that can be avoided if we reach out to help our veterans and they reach out to get and accept that available help.

Let’s not create more statistics unless they are numbers of recovery from getting and receiving help.

Finally, thank you, Citrus County, for being our friend these many years. We miss you and we hope to be able to return and visit everyone this fall. In the meantime, I hope to continue our remote association through periodic articles here concerning our veterans and their families.

May God bless America and our veterans in harm’s way.

John Stewart is a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant and disabled Vietnam War veteran. In 2016 he was inducted into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame. His columns are sourced from public, government and private information and content is checked for accuracy as best as is possible. However, you have the responsibility to confirm contents before committing any related actions. Visit his website at www. veteransgrapevine.com.