Twenty-two veterans Take Their Own Lives Every Day Because of Depression

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Military news…

Actor, director and Hollywood icon Denzel Washington is the “Honorary Sergeant Major of the Army” for 2021.

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Veterans made headlines this summer for working together to bring home stranded Afghan allies, but they are also doing the same for deported U.S. veterans.

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The Army’s new missile-hauling Stryker was fired for the first time ever in Europe by soldiers assigned to the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

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Every sandwich is a sub sandwich if it has classified submarine info in it. Case in point: Federal prosecutors accused Navy vet Jonathan Toebbe of trying to sell sensitive information about the nuclear reactors for Virginia-class submarines by hiding a SanDisk inside a peanut butter sandwich.

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin must resign over his handling of the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, writes retired Marine Col. Andrew Milburn. Having served in Afghanistan as a special operations officer and having seen Secretary Austin’s career up close, Andrew is particularly well-qualified to weigh in on the subject.

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One of the military’s top cybersecurity generals wants to get rid of the Common Access Card. Used to enter buildings, log onto computers and even enter the chow hall, CACs are one of the few things nearly all service members have had in common over the past 20 years.

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Here is another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

Move Out of Your Home Called Depression

So many people(over 19 million,) are silently struggling with depression or related demons. The depression rate in the military is very high as well. People do not do anything about it. It leaves them eventually because the person dies.

How can we get off this train of despair? Why do we let depression overtake us? Shouldn’t we be happy with our family and friends, and our loved ones around us? Is there a way to climb out of this dreadful trench and have a productive life?

Now that I made you also feel depressed. Let me share some thoughts with you, and see if you can see any light at the end of the tunnel.

  1. People seem to think that they will be embarrassed if they let someone know they are depressed. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Don’t you think your close family and friends would jump in to help you faster that a cat on a ot tin roof, if they knew you were hurting? Of course they would! Stop closing the door on others and be wallowing in your own self pity. Let people, and other soldiers, become your support system to get you out of your despair.
  2. Why do we let depression overtakes us? Because we become very vulnerable to the dark side when something goes wrong. We can’t just keep going on as if nothing ever happened. We either deal with it, or we crash like I did.
  3. Depression has many names by the way. It hides under the names of self-doubt, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, and self-pity. They are all different names, but they are all systems of the Big Kahuna depression. All of these nasty critters push us to into the lake of muck and mire, and we can’t seem to stay afloat. Don’t let this villian ambush you! Keep you eyes on the bight side of life, and not the dark side.
  4. With today’s modern technology, you can connect with your family no matter where you are in the world. I have used Skype, facetime, (I-Phones) Zoom, and speaker phones ot get as many people as I can. We talk and feel accepted.
  5. I just did that recently when I had a birthday party for my granddaughter. My son, who is the uncle of my granddaughter, couldn’t make it. We did a video connect through I-Box of all things. My son was able to wish my granddaughter happy birthday, and talk to all of us.

Unlike the dark ages when we couldn’t connect with technology at all, you can see and talk to anyone you want to get the feeling you are right there with them.

The Bottom line…

Tell the bad guys to get out of Dodge. Let the good guys come in and help you ride off tinto the sunset of peace.

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There is more to this chapter, but I will tease you into to buying the book to find out more.

You can come back and see more excerpts. Better yet… go to the top of this page and click on“Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will come directly to you inbox.

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Bed check…

How are you doing? Does it seem overwhelming at times. Do you feel the darkside lurking around you?

FEAR NOT!

There are 13,250 fellow veterans here who have your back.

But! It is just too much for you right now. GET HELP!

Here is a toll free nmber to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will not hang up until they know you are Ok.

1-800-273-8255…texting 838255.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Veterans Are 50% More Likely to Commit Suicide

A new record. Two days in a row!

I am afraid today’s topic is very serious. More than 22 veterans take their own lives every day. Yes, I said every day.

The glaring statistic is that those who seek help for the VA are much less likely to commit suicide, because of this I have some statistics and thoughts.

The Va reported that out of 20 veterans that committed suicide 6 had been to the VA for help, but 14 had not. Pretty clear that is vital that you seek help. You will have much more support, and because of that you will a much better chance of survival.

Things we need to ask:

  • Did those 14 veterans private sector care?
  • Were those veterans eligible to use the VA?
  • Were They among those discharged for untreated undiagnosed mental health disorders related to sexual trauma or combat?
  • Did they find the veteran discerned for personality disorder during the era of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell?”

The bottom line is that if you are struggling, get help now!! Below is the helpline to call and get help:

(877-247-4645) Then press 1.

I feel your pain. I have been there. Do not let the dark side overcome you. Seek the light, and tell the darkside he is outta here.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never ever give up!

Tom Hanks is Making Another War Movie


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Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It reaches out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics.  

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This is a new social network just for veterans. I joined it and made instant friendships with veterans who want to talk about what I want to talk about. Please check it out. You will be glad you did. 

https://www.rallypoint.com/join/spc-douglas-bolton

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Tom Hanks has been in many movies, but he has also been in military movies, that are outstanding. Tom Hanks discusses his new movie, No Better Place to Die. 

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Tom Hanks Is Teaming Up With Vet Filmmaker Dale Dye to Make A Veteran-Powered WWII Drama

Tom Hanks has signed on to both act in and executive-produce No Better Place To Die, an upcoming World War II drama about the airborne Normandy landings on D-Day, written and directed by Marine vet and seasoned technical adviser Dale Dye.

The news of Hanks’ addition is good for U.S. military veterans, and not just for World War II film buffs: Dye is looking to cast up 50 veterans as actors, including as many as 35 speaking roles, with department heads giving vets priority for support positions on set.

“When I say department heads, I’m talking about set design, costumes, props, armory, hair and makeup, and all the other support elements that will engineer making a movie,” Dye told Task & Purpose. “I’m going to tell all those department heads that veterans get priority, so folks who want to be technicians in the film industry.”

“I’m going to try to get them their shot on this film, also,” he added. ”I’m trying to help guys who really want to do this for a living.”

The movie, written and directed by Dye, follows a band of airborne soldiers scattered across Normandy during their drop ahead of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. A mishmash of troops from different units, they folded into a single rifle company to seize and hold La Fière bridge, a crucial causeway which connected the French countryside with the Normandy beachheads, against German reinforcements headed for Omaha and Utah beach. Had that company not held, the beach landings might have been a catastrophic failure.

“What I discovered, writ large, was that this was an example of what happens in our military when all the big plans, laid by all the generals and colonels, become victims of the exigency of war, that is, when they go right in the crapper,” Dye told Task & Purpose. “It’s the sergeants and the young lieutenants, and the PFCs and the corporals, who cobble together, knowing what has to be done, and just go out there and do it against all odds.”

Dye wrote the script in 2011, but has struggled to find backers for the film, until now. In addition to signing Hanks to produce and act, Creative Artists Agency and Gersh, are arranging financing for the film.  (No Better Place To Die should not be confused with Hanks’ other WWII film venture, Greyhound, which is looking to cast vets as extras.)

“The Hollywood procedure for putting a film together, especially an expensive film — and we’re a $30 million picture, that’s a lot like herding cats or trying to get snakes to follow a straight path — it’s a very difficult extended process,” Dye said. “But we’re right in the middle of it and gaining a lot of traction.”

 

Though casting hasn’t started yet, Dye hopes to begin filming this summer, with the goal of a 2019 release date, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of D-Day. In total, Dye said he hopes to get 40 to 50 veterans in front of the camera of which, 28 and 35 will be speaking roles. “Once I’m certain that we have the money we need, and we have the main actors that we need …. then we can start the process of auditioning the real veterans for the rest of the roles,” Dye said.

A decorated Marine combat veteran and a three-time Purple Heart recipient, whose career included tours in Vietnam as an infantryman and a combat correspondent, Dye retired from the Marines 1984. And in the years that followed he’s leveraged that experience as a military technical adviser through his company Warriors Inc., bringing authenticity and emotional realism to the projects he’s worked on, which include Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, and Platoonamong others.

In terms of realism, getting all the little details right — how to hold a weapon, wear a uniform, or knowing what ribbons go on what side of your service jacket — is important, sure, but it’s “ultimately superficial” Dye said.

While it differs by era, theater, or unit, there’s a way of carrying oneself, of talking, and behaving — an attitude among service members that’s timeless and universal. And that’s what makes the difference between a technically accurate war movie, and a realistic one — or, better yet, a relatable one.

“When I was first motivated to even start as a military adviser to movies and television, that’s part of what I was trying to do, to bring that understanding, that empathy, that intimate knowledge, to actors, who for the most part, especially these days, had absolutely no experience with it,” Dye told Task & Purpose. “I felt if I could do that, if I could make them walk a mile in our boots … their portrayals of who we are, what we are, how we act, how we relate to each other, how we think, how we feel, those things would come across.”

In addition to surrounding the film’s actors with scores of veterans, Dye said he plans to put stars through his standard training regimen: a three week boot camp in austere conditions meant to recreate the setting and environment the service members’ portrayed in the film had to endure

“We’ll do my standard evolution that I do for every film that I work on,” Dye said. “But I’m hoping that in addition to that, that we’ll have a process of osmosis that’s going on the whole time, where you get these real veterans next to the actors, and they can observe now, what they’ve been told, and what they’ve been forced to do in training.”

“They’ll see the reality of it, how these people think, how these people feel, how they talk and how they relate to one another,” he added. “I’m hoping for a big dose of osmosis in that regard.”

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I look forward to this movie because I think it will authentic, and it will help us understand what the soldiers went through.

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If you are a veterans and feel lost and battling PTSD, TBI, depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, or many other of the usual suspects, I feel your pain. I have been there. Just know that you are not alone. You are not worthless. You are important.

If you need immediate help call this help line:

 1-800-273-8255 

Don’t do another minute alone.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!