Thankfully, there are many beneficial programs and organizations scattered across every state dedicated to assisting our veterans' emotional and physical needs.
Many strive to help ease their challenges, as veteran suicides continue to make news nationwide.
Camp Jack in Harrison is just such a caring place. This converted school district building, dedicated last year, is assisting 1,000 north Arkansas-area veterans with community-based outreach programs designed to provide them with a renewed sense of hope and common purpose.
"We always intervene if and when a veteran ends up on the edge," said Matt Russell, who directs Camp Jack.
"Many of our vets miss the active- duty camaraderie and sense of belonging to something positive and much larger than themselves like they found in the military then suddenly lost," Russell added. "We try to give their spirits a reason to get out of bed each morning. It revolves largely around them helping others and feeling good about their efforts.
"We've also found they need to get out from in front of the continually depressing drumbeat of news and the hopelessness it creates and back into this world where they can--and do--make a positive difference."
Perhaps more than anything else, that approach helps lift their spirits and self-esteem.
National veteran-funded and -run organization Stop Soldier Suicide says the military suicide rate is 50 percent higher than the national average.
While that may be, the Department of Veterans Affairs in its 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report also offered a ray of light, saying, "Hope serves as a key and necessary anchor to strengthen veterans amidst numerous life circumstances. In a similar manner, hope must imbue the overall suicide prevention mission, anchoring it amidst mission challenges and circumstances."
The report cited several hopeful data points. For instance, 399 fewer veterans died from suicide in 2019 than in 2018, the lowest raw count of veteran suicides since 2007. From 2005 to 2018, identified veteran suicides increased on average by 48 each year. The single-year decrease in the adjusted suicide rate for veterans from 2018 to 2019 (7 percent) was larger than any observed for veterans from 2001 through 2018.
Hopefully this means the tide is turning for our veterans, who also have continual support available through VA facilities.
It can be difficult to spot obvious signs of possible suicidal behavior, even when a veteran may be contemplating it. Some display no signs of harming themselves before acting, while others can display classic signs of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, PTSD or hopelessness.
Camp Jack's staff members watch for indicators. Accordingly, various projects are regularly scheduled, depending on the community's needs, since providing each member with a fulfilling sense of purpose plays a large role in their approach.
"We had several veterans help an older woman paint her house the other day, and that made them feel good about themselves and helped her," Russell said. Simply put, the camp makes it a priority to get vets off the streets and into efforts that boost self-esteem and restore hope.
Every Arkansas community would benefit from such a place that helps these men and women with issues any veteran might face and could otherwise seem overwhelming.
So much kindness
In this dark period, it's been more than reassuring to me that kindness, compassion and empathy endure across this nation.
That certainly includes those here in Harrison, where the outpouring of caring has been profound since I've started writing about my ongoing battle to overcome squamous cell cancer in my neck.
Much appreciated cards and emails from readers across our state have never stopped. On top of that, though, many people have gone far beyond.
For instance, one lady I have known for years, who is undergoing treatment herself for cancer behind her eye, brought a homemade meal to the house not long ago. Can you imagine the depth of caring that requires under such circumstances?
One family shared a bag of their DVDs to enjoy.
Another person brought food out of the blue while another unexpectedly baked and delivered banana bread.
The pastor for the First United Methodist Church at the top of our street delivered a beautiful quilt as a gift from its members (although we are not members).
One friend regularly sends Christian-centered gift cards and has prepared and delivered a meal.
Two of our closest couple friends have taken turns driving me to and from my weekday treatments on days when Jeanetta couldn't. Others have offered.
Jeanetta's daughter Kenda drove from Springfield to help care for me. And Jeanetta's 43-year-old son Frankie drove across town at 10:30 p.m. to help lift me off our slick hardwood floor when I became too fatigued to do it myself.
And yet another caring friend delivered a carton of the Glucerna nutritional liquid we are using for my feeding tube.
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.