Every day across the country twenty-two veterans are lost to suicide.
The VA’s most recent study showed that Michigan alone lost 173 veterans in 2019. Many never received care from the VA.
“When you're thinking about demographics, we have about 567,000 Michigan veterans,” said Julie Cortright, a Health and Welfare Analyst for the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. “And we have about 315,000 that are not connected at all, to the VA.”
Cortright said firearms are the most common, and most lethal, method of suicide among veterans.
To help put time between thought and action, the MVAA now offers gun locks.
“We also offer free cable locks for guns,” Cortright said. “Oakland Sheriff's Department reached out and they asked us to send them 5000 locks.”
Although state programs are helping address veteran suicide, one retired Air Force member said key issues aren’t being dealt with correctly.
Juan Gonzalez spent 27 years in the United States Air Force, deploying four times as a military police officer. While his transition to civilian life was smooth due to planning, he said too often service members' problems are ignored.
“We're just a number, man,” Gonzalez said. "We're just a number, they'll get another, you know, as long as you got a right or left index finger that can pull a trigger, you're good to go.”
Since leaving the military, Gonzalez has entered the social work field.
Specializing in homeless and incarcerated veterans, Gonzalez said the programs and people that are supposed to help, are failing enlisted members of the military who seek out mental health and addiction services.
“Don't say you're gonna help them, and then when they come for help, you're going to turn them away or blackball them or kick them out of the military, because there goes all your credibility of, hey, we're here to help you,” Gonzalez said. “And that's just the way it is.”
Amanda Troyer, a Montcalm County Veterans Service Officer, said the VA has come under scrutiny for how it handles medicating mental illness in veterans.
“We’re looking at an epidemic of opioid use, numb them, numb them,” Troyer said.
Troyer’s offices work to advocate for veterans, even providing rides to appointments free of charge.
“Now we've got two vans, and who knows where this may go,” Troyer said. “Because the VA does offer transportation. But again, there's so many eligibility requirements. To us, let’s strip away all those if you're a veteran.”
While progress has been made through government programs, veteran Juan Gonzalez said since the United States isn’t currently at war, this is the perfect time to address veterans’ mental health needs.
“This is the time to get everything that we need for mental health, to break the stigma to reduce that 22 to reduce it down,” Gonzalez said. “This is the time to do it.”
Gonzalez said the next time the United States goes to war, hopefully, ample funding will be provided for those returning home once the conflict ends.
“As I tell people now when the government puts boots on the ground, and we go to war whatever that bill is going to be you better make sure that you triple if not quadruple it when it's over because that's what you're going to have on the physical and mental health side of it all,” Gonzalez said.
No matter how the government chooses to proceed, Gonzalez said veterans need to take responsibility for their recovery and be active participants in their care.
If you or a veteran you know is in need of help, contact the Veteran’s Crisis line at 1-800-273-8255.
For more information about the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency visit www.michigan.gov/mvaa.