National Guard grapples with suicide rate
By Lara Salahi, The War Horse
Feb 6, 09:01 AM
Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a multipart series by The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to its newsletter.
Veterans or service members experiencing a mental health emergency can contact the Veteran Crisis Line at 988 or at 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer. Veterans, troops or their family members can also text 838255 or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for assistance.
Col. Tom Stewart saw Staff Sgt. Chris DeLano for the last time at a brewery in Brookfield, Massachusetts. DeLano had texted Stewart sometime in November 2020 and asked to meet up — he had something important to tell him.
“Sir, I need to see you,” the text read.
Stewart had retired from the Massachusetts Army National Guard more than a year earlier.
At the brewery, DeLano, 36, skipped the beer. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer, he told Stewart.
“What are the doctors telling you?” Stewart asked, concerned about an enlisted soldier who had come to rely on him.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2023/02/06/national-guard-grapples-with-suicide-rate/
