Written by My Black Belt Community Project – Stop Soldier Suicide!
Dear Zen Martial Arts Family,
For my black belt community project, I have selected something very deeply personal. Please let me explain. I served in the U.S. Army, 1st Special Operations Command, 112th Signal (AIRBORNE) in the mid 1980’s. I am a veteran and am grateful for the time I was able to serve alongside other men in my unit. Over the years, I have lost several friends and fellow veterans to suicide. One, who I served with in 112th Signal at Ft. Bragg went on to become a Green Beret and served in multiple campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. The suicide rates for our veterans are far too high…absolutely unacceptable! The following salient if not sobering points:
- Average of ~17 veterans commit suicide each day (2019/2020).
- 2020 suicide rates were 57% greater for veterans than other adults.
- In 2020, suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death in veterans under age 45.
- Per researchers’ estimates, 30,177 Global War on Terror veterans have died by suicide, compared to 7,057 who have died while deployed in support of the Global War on Terror.
While these statistics are outright disheartening, there is hope! We can prevent suicide!
For generations, our military men and woman have served to protect our way of life and freedoms—to serve their–and our country! Yet, our country has failed them! It is shocking and outright infuriating as a veteran that my military brothers and sisters are unequivocally not getting the proactive mental health care and social support they need as they reacclimate into civilian life. For the majority who have not served in the military, carrying on with our lives unaware of or unsympathetic to the war that for many veterans is raging within, this is an opportunity to acknowledge the suffering is real and the suicide rates for our veterans is unconscionable.
Please consider making a donation (QR code above OR URL below) that provides the means to fund engagement, intervention, veteran wellness and follow-up care. I would also ask you to speak with others about this issue and advocating for change. They served us! We must serve them!
Let us honor the memory of those that have lost this war. Please join me in supporting those now on the front lines to Stop Soldier Suicide!
On this upcoming veteran’s day, Friday, November 11th @ 8 AM PST, in remembrance of those veterans we have lost to suicide, their families and loved ones forever impacted, I will carry a military rucksack with 50 pounds and do 5 loops (approximately 1.1 miles per loop) around the state Capital Park loop trail starting and ending at the Vietnam War Memorial. Please feel free to join me if you are in the area!
Donation link – https://stopsoldiersuicidediy.funraise.org/fundraiser/david-brezinski
Sources (for stats noted above):
- https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/06/21/four-times-as-many-troops-and-vets-have-died-by-suicide-as-in-combat-study-finds/
- https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/vet-stats
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/06/veteran-suicides-report-decline/
- https://kdhnews.com/military/suicide-still-a-major-problem-in-military-veteran-communities/article_17cb30fe-4032-11ed-bbf9-3314a6e402b9.html