Last year Andy Dousis, a colleague at work, challenged me (and others) to do 22 push-ups a day for 22 days to raise awareness that every day in America some 22 military veterans commit suicide. As part of the challenge, I had to post my push-ups on YouTube, Facebook and here.
Andy challenged me again this year!
So here’s Week 1. Each day I’ll post the video as well as a link to a related news article. Note: I tend to do more than 22 push-ups….
Day 1:
News Article: Here’s a link to an NPR interview with Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, in which he admits that “of the 20 vets who take their life every day through suicide, just six are getting care in the VA health care.” Click!
Day 2:
News Article: Here’s a link to an NPR story from last September, that said “More than one-third of calls to a suicide hotline for troubled veterans are not being answered by front-line staffers because of poor work habits and other problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the hotline’s former director.” Click!
Day 3:
News Article: Here’s a recent NY Times editorial, with the line “Last year, 20 veterans per day on average committed suicide, according to the V.A. Tens of thousands of veterans sleep on the streets on any given night.” Click!
Day 4:
News Article: Kitty Dukakis writes in response to the Times editorial on veteran suicides: “As the editorial points out, on average we are losing 20 veterans a day to suicide. Some of them are these men and women. Whatever the problems that resulted in their discharges, they served us under very difficult circumstances in a very difficult part of the world.” Click!
Day 5:
News Article: From the LA Times a year ago: “VA hospital staff triggered veteran’s suicide attempt after repeatedly cancelling appointments, report says.” Click!
Day 6:
News Article: From a recent article in Ameriforce, a military website: “Of particular concern is the alarming rate of female veteran suicide. According to a recent study by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), since 2001, the age-adjusted rate of suicide among male veterans has increased 30.5 percent. In comparison, the age-adjusted rate of suicide among female veterans has increased 85.2 percent. And among veteran women ages 18 to 29, the risk of suicide is 12 times the rate of non-veteran women.” Click!
Day 7:
News Article: Today’s news link reports on the same situation in Great Britain: “Ex-soldier who starred in play about veterans’ plight killed himself, inquest rules.” Click!
