I’m not easily shocked, but this chart shocked me. I didn’t realize we had this epidemic going on in the United States. Keep the numbers listed under the chart handy. You can be someone’s lifeline.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, English — (800)273-8255
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Spanish — (888)628-9454
For deaf/hard-of-hearing — (800)799-4899
Veterans Crisis line — (800) 273-8255
Life is hard for veterans, who may come back to face loss of jobs, family, friends, life-focus, homes, physical disability, emotional hurdles. So much so that many resort to suicide. It’s up to us, the people they defended, to protect them. Keep this phone number handy to pass on to a vulnerable vet. In fact, loan the vet your cell phone and be with them while they make the call. It’s the least we can do.
have vivid memories of my experience in visiting the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. The visit began with a film showing the horrors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. My eyes blurred with tears. Then there was the choppy boat trip to the monument, a short distance from other coffin-ships which suffered the same fate as the Arizona. So many names filled the wall behind the altar-like steps, and the hush of the crowd echoed the silent voices trapped deep beneath us. Little was said on the trip back to land, as we all found ourselves deep in thought.
This Veterans Day I’m thinking the Canadians are right to call it “Remembrance Day.” It’s important to remember and honor our veterans, those who fought for our way of life. It’s even more important to remember that we should work toward a time when the reason for such occasions is only a bad memory.
Hug a veteran. Pray for peace.
I honor, respect, and thank all veterans. But this is the one I love.
Proud Navy man. Loving husband and father. Overall good person.
I miss him but celebrate him today, on Veteran’s Day.
A person who holds a “huge” rally to raise money to benefit our veterans and manages to raise $6 million should be praised–unless he doesn’t get that money to the 24 organizations he promised it to. Yes, some donors gave money directly to the charities rather than through the Donald J. Trump Foundation, and about half of the amount has found its way to the charities. Where’s the rest? Will the other charities ever get their checks? Some have, once the Foundation was reminded. How much reminding and media pressure will it take to get the promised funds to the charities?
Our veterans, who are struggling with health, mental, and financial difficulties as a result of their service to our nation, deserve better treatment.
(Read story in the Washington Post article “What ever happened to all that money Trump raised for the veterans?”
I have vivid memories of my experience in visiting the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. The visit began with a film showing the horrors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. My eyes blurred with tears. Then there was the choppy boat trip to the monument, a short distance from other coffin-ships which suffered the same fate as the Arizona. So many names filled the wall behind the altar-like steps, and the hush of the crowd echoed the silent voices trapped deep beneath us. Little was said on the trip back to land, as we all found ourselves deep in thought.
This Veterans Day I’m thinking the Canadians are right to call it “Remembrance Day.” It’s important to remember and honor our veterans, those who fought for our way of life. It’s even more important to remember that we should work toward a time when the reason for such occasions is only a bad memory.
Hug a veteran. Pray for peace.
Let’s plan ahead for Sunday, when we turn our clocks back an hour. What will we do with the extra hour we’ve gained? Why not share it with someone who doesn’t necessarily consider time a friend, like that neighbor or acquaintance who is too ill or shy to get out much. We can spend time feeding hungry families at a kitchen, gathering food for local food pantries that serve them, visiting veterans at the VA, bringing a picnic lunch and conversation to Aunt Sally at the nursing home. Or give that extra hour exclusively to our children, playing, reading, or just being together. Or nurture our marriage with an uninterrupted hour together, being present to each other. Through that one hour, we won’t let stress, overwork, or other pressures interfere with our relationships. In short, rather than waste that morsel of extra time, we can use it to live life more fully, sharing our time and selves with others.
65% of senior executives at the Veterans Administration received bonuses last year while veterans (we don’t know how many because of record-keeping games) went without care. I know that I don’t fully understand the system–or any bureaucracy, for that matter. It just seems to me that not only were the bonuses not earned but also they could have bought the time of a good number of doctors (inside and/or outside VA) to give our vets the care they deserve.
If the VA doesn’t make our vets a priority, then who?