Stop Veteran Suicide

Richard I Porter
Sep 15, 2019
2 min read

Dear fellow veteran. Brother. Sister. You are loved. You are valued. I know you are hurting. But you are strong. You can do this. We need you. Humanity needs you. You have been through so much, I know you can keep going. If you need help, reach out!

Call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.

That is the contact info for the veterans crisis line and they are ready to talk to you.

If you are not yourself a veteran, you may or may not know that an average of 20 veterans die per day from suicide.

This is the end of National Suicide Prevention week. Like many veterans I personally have overcome intrusive thoughts of self harm in my past. I used to wear a memorial band of brothers who I knew that died in combat. I now wear a band at all times that had the above veterans crisis line on it. They would understand. They would want me to continue on.

I won’t forget them, but this, this I always need on me. Always available. I need to always know the number above for myself or for my brothers or sisters. It’s like how we memorized 9-line medevac formats. Carried cheat-sheet cards of it. Wrote it on windshields in our vehicles. Tattooed it on our bodies. Burned it into each others brains in training.

Call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.

I’ve come to know many veterans overcoming challenges in the #YangGangVets and I want you to know these numbers, if not for you for someone else. I want these public and promoted. Everyone needs them.

And for our non-veteran friends in the #YangGangFam

call 1-800-273-8255 the national suicide prevention line.

Meditate

If you are not at the moment of crisis, if you are in the pink of mental health loving life and having no qualms, or if you are anywhere but at the moment where you think you might hurt yourself, the next best thing you can do is start a meditation practice. Seriously, I could extol all the benefits but I’d rather you just take action. There’s a lot of good books and schools and guided meditation apps out there but I’m going to solve the tyranny of choice for you and say, jsut go try Sam Harris’ Waking Up app. Can’t afford it you say? Need that #Freedom Dividend first huh? No problem

“As with all of Sam Harris’s digital content, if you would like to use this app but truly cannot afford it, please email us at info@wakingup.com so that we can give you a free account.”