Hitting the SP

   First of all, thank you to everyone that has not only read or shared my last blog post on Veterans suicide, but to all of those who have emailed, tweeted or even called me to say thank you for the post.  The attention and page views that this post has garnered is a sign, I hope, that I am reaching Veterans and their family members about this tragedy.  As a result, I will continue to call for Veterans to help Veterans, as I did in my first post of The Citizen-Soldier Blog.  It's kind of like hitting the SP of a military convoy.  SP means Starting Point.  It all begins with Vets helping Vets.
   I am also giving the link to the Spartan Pledge from gallantfew.org.  No matter what service you were in, or where you served, you had a battle buddy.  The guy who was in front of you when you did a room entry.  If you were a driver, the gunner who did PMCS with you (anyone who was/is Mech or Armor knows what I'm talking about).  Every man and woman who has served has a battle buddy.  They had your back then, so call them up and have them take the Spartan Pledge with you.  22 of our Brothers and Sisters are taking their own lives every single day!  We Veterans have to take care each other.  It could be the guy you throw darts with at the Legion Post who is a Vietnam Vet.  It could be the Coast Guard Veteran who has become a good friend.  Take the Pledge and always remember: You cannot make someone commit suicide by talking about it.
    VA scandal.  The President recently addressed the American Legion Convention being held in Charlotte, Virginia.  His reception wasn't especially warm.  And, just to be apolitical about it, here is another link, from a media source not right leaning, about his muted reception. The truth of the matter is the VA scandal isn't owned by any one president.   This mismanagement/corruption of the Veterans Administration goes back not just years or decades but generations. For a very thorough history of problems with the VA please check out this post from a fellow Veteran blogger.  I hope he doesn't mind that I am linking to his post but, once again, we Veterans have to stick together.
   The main message I am trying to get across is simply, if the Betrayal (because that is what it is...not a scandal, but a betrayal) of the VA is going to stop then the politicians and bureaucrats are going to have to help in that process.  For some of those groups, I fear it is going to be help facilitated by a stick not a carrot.  I will make as much of a ruckus as I can to help Secretary McDonald in cleaning up the mess in the VA.  I ask all of you to sound the alarm as well.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The VA scandal is not over.  Not by a long shot.
   Back to square one.  I started this post off by talking again about Veteran suicide and I'm going to end this post with a link to a story published recently by USA Today.  Written by Dennis Wagner, who write for the Arizona Republic and USA Today, the article shows how the VA, even since Congress passed and the President signed a bill to "take care of" the VA scandal, is still betraying the Veterans of the United States of America. 
That is all.

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If you know of a Veteran who may be thinking about suicide, or you are a Veteran who is contemplating it, please call the Veterans Crisisline at 1800 273 8255.

 

 

The 7th Annual SGT Jan Argonish Ride will be held Sunday, September 7th.  For more information please click here.

 

Sources used include: USA Today, gallantfew.org, The Triad Business Journal, Scream in the Wilderness by @OldMarine1 and The Daily Caller.