New York state commander making ‘Be the One’ a priority

When he was  elected American Legion Department of New York Commander last year, David R. Riley Sr. made Operation Comfort Warriors (OCW) his primary cause. Riley had been a strong supporter of OCW since 2013 and wanted to continue that support.

But then Riley learned about “Be the One”, The American Legion’s suicide prevention initiative aimed at reducing veteran suicides through destigmatizing asking for mental health support. He recognized the importance of the cause and wanted to do his part to spread the word, so he has shared the “Be the One” message at every one of his stops during his tenure as state commander.

He also wanted to support the mission of a fellow New York Legionnaire, National Commander Vincent J. “James” Troiola, a life member of American Legion Post 1682 in Rockland County. During his acceptance speech at the 2022 National Convention in Milwaukee, Troiola made tackling veteran suicides his No. 1 priority for his year.

“I think the platform The American Legion started with (”Be the One”), and with Jim being from New York, I kind of wanted to mimic what he was doing,” Riley said. “The Department of New York has a history of always trying to support the mission of the national commander, and we follow through on that.

“When ‘Be the One’ rolled out, it just made sense to add it to my (projects). I even changed my whole message around it. I give every visitation with ‘Be the One’ as a big part of it. It’s important.”

Riley, a member of Harry P. Smith Post 24 in Rome, the Legion’s suicide-prevention initiative comes at the crucial time. “We’ve got to stop all of the (veteran suicides). It’s crazy,” he said. “When you look at the statistics and how many people it’s affecting, it’s a lot more than people realize.

“I think people thought (the most recent wars were) fought behind the scenes with drones and stuff like that. I don’t think they realized how much our troops were actually on the ground and how much it’s been affecting them, to the point where the multiple tours just kept adding up and adding up. I had two friends who each (deployed) five different times. That’s a lot.”

Riley and fellow New York American Legion Family leadership – Department Auxiliary President Nancy Babis and Sons of The American Legion Detachment Commander Timothy Van Patten II – travel together and have visited 53 of New York’s 62 counties so far.

At the stops, Riley provides the opportunities for posts and counties to donate to his project. He’s collected $17,000 for OCW and almost $15,000 to support “Be the One” already. He’ll present the final amounts on the floor of the national convention in Charlotte this summer.

But it’s not the money collected that’s stuck with Riley during his visits. “I’ve had on my visitations several people come up and talk about loved ones that had (died by) suicide, and that they’re glad we’re doing something and bringing it to the front,” he said. “It’s very moving. You kind of don’t know what to say. You listen to them talk. That’s all you can do.”

In addition to what Riley has raised, the Department of New York set aside $1.5 million last summer to provide grants to nonprofits that work with at-risk veterans to assist them before they consider suicide. Those grants included assistance with homeless veterans programs; to support RTM Protocol therapy, a non-drug, non-traumatizing treatment that re-programs the neurological connection between the brain’s feeling center and specific traumatic memories; and most recently to EquiCenter Mustang Mission program, which assists veterans who are dealing with the physical and emotional effects of combat with the use of mustang horses.

“What I like about this (“Be the One”) campaign is that The American Legion started it at the top, and they’re pushing it down to the local level,” Riley said. “And that’s what you want: for the local post to be more educated. And that’s what we’re doing.”