Here we are again. I don’t want to talk about the same subject again so soon, but when the problem again rears it’s head in the news I fell that I must address it again.
With a self-admitted problem of veterans committing suicide at crisis levels, over 20 per day, with only 6 of those 20 bothering to ask the Veterans Administration for help in the first place, and of those who reached out for help, 1/3 of them had their pleas go unanswered, or dumped to voicemail.
After my years in the Marines I’ve become pretty cynical about many things, and with my day job at a federal agency, my first reaction to this situation is that the administration was not allocating the time and money it needed to the problem and the people there are doing the best they can with what they have.
However, the reports have specifically stated that the workers at the hotline answered fewer than five calls per day and would leave work early. While at some level I can understand if the number of answered calls were 5 per day, there is no metric that be placed on saving someone’s life and I don’t want factory type production numbers for a suicide crisis center. If a worker has to spend their entire shift on a single call helping a single veteran they should be thanked and celebrated. But leaving a shift early, allowing desperate veterans calls for help go unanswered is not only poor work habits, but unethical.
Where else in our society would we allow this? Would we allow 911 to route 1/3 of all emergency calls to voicemail and not have a public outcry?
I’m sure the workers at the cell center have saved many lives but these types of problem have not only caused me to questions their ability to help the veterans that have been placed in their care, it has also has me question their dedication and empathy for those people who dedicated their lives to protecting them.
It is exactly these types of events that cause veterans to questions their countries commitment to them.
Twenty-two years of mental tears
Cries a suicidal Vietnam vet
Who fought a losing war on a foreign shore
To find his country didn’t want him backTheir bullets took his best friend in Saigon
Our lawyers took his wife and kids, no regrets
In a time I don’t remember, in a war he can’t forget
He cried “Forgive me for what I’ve done there
Cause I never meant the things I did”
-Public Intel
Public Intel 
September 30, 2016 at 21:28
This is a damn shame. I have many family members who have served in each branch of the military, and have seen what can happen when they come back from serving and need mental health assistance. The way Vets are treated in this country is shameful. There HAS to be a change to make sure Vets get the services they need.
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October 2, 2016 at 01:42
It is difficult for me to understand how the same politicians who send our troops so willingly into war are so unwilling to help them when they return. Our troops deserve so much more than what they are getting. I am glad you are keeping us informed about these issues.
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