Column: Call a fellow veteran who needs help — it could save a life

All of Hawaii’s people should be concerned about the well-being of the state’s military veterans in this troubling time. The state has among the nation’s highest concentrations of veterans at the same time the U.S. is experiencing a dangerously high level of veteran suicides, and the grinding pandemic is increasing isolation and stressors.

The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs released earlier this month shows an uptick in veteran suicides. In a sobering metric, more U.S. vets have died by suicide in the last 10 years than service members who died from combat in Vietnam.

“Suicide among veterans remain disproportionately high, despite continued boosts to VA funding and efforts by Congress and the White House to curb the crisis,” Stars and Stripes reports.

The VA and some individual states have done excellent work building out programs that seek to curtail veteran suicides. But the concern is that these programs are missing the mark — and that far more emphasis must be placed on reaching those Hawaii vets who don’t raise their hands, who are suffering in silence, whose physical or psychological injuries have left them perilously disconnected from others.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., put his finger on exactly the problem, saying: “What we found is that two-thirds of these veterans who take their own lives have had no contact with the VA.”

Connecting with these people before they despair is paramount. That is why the Troops First Foundation and its partners in the military community are calling on veterans to share a sense of responsibility for those with whom they have served and to recognize the urgent need to connect.

Our ask is simple: If you live in Hawaii and are a veteran, reach out and connect with current and former battle buddies and let them know you care. In short, make a call, take a call and have an honest conversation. With research showing that active-duty service members and vets in need of support often don’t seek help on their own, a call could save a life.

The foundation’s effort, known as “Warrior Call,” is seeking to have at least 50,000 current service members and vets make a phone call and connect with another by the end of the year.

Time is of the essence to make these connections. Invisible wounds linked to an underlying and undiagnosed traumatic brain injury can mirror many mental health conditions. At the same time, vets can be burdened with moral injury from their experiences. The traumas can impact and erode a person’s sense of hope, leading them to disconnect from friends and family and cause some to see suicide as the only way to relieve their pain.

Warrior Call is a movement that every state in the nation should embrace, but especially Hawaii with its high concentration of both veterans and active-duty service members, who themselves are experiencing an uptick in suicides.

“At this time of additional stress, we want to make certain that warriors in Hawaii and elsewhere, whether veterans or active duty, connect and check in with one another,” said Leroy Petry, a 2011 recipient of the Medal of Honor and co-chair of Warrior Call. “All it takes is a simple call to make a huge, life-changing difference.”

Frank Larkin is co-chairman of the Warrior Call initiative, a former Navy SEAL and the father of a Navy SEAL son who committed suicide.