May 05, 2023

Utah post uses Legion Family Day to educate on suicide awareness, 'Be the One'

By The American Legion
Be the One
Utah post uses Legion Family Day to educate on suicide awareness, ‘Be the One’
(Photo by Sarah Hunt/Daily Herald)

Post 68 in Spanish Fork honors one of its own victims of suicide, as well as a local teen, during April 29 event.

In January of this year, American Legion National Commander Vincent Troiola sent out an email to Legionnaires to remind them of April 29 being designated as American Legion Family Day. In his message, he reiterated that one of the goals of the day was to educate a post’s community of what the Legion’s mission was – and asked them to highlight one particular mission.

“Let visitors to your Family Day event know the issues that are important to The American Legion,” Troiola wrote. “Tell them about our ‘Be the One’ program and our efforts to de-stigmatize the courageous decision to seek mental wellness. 

Utah Legionnaire Becki Knepper took that message to heart. She and fellow members of American Legion Post 68 in Spanish Fork conducted an American Legion Family Day on April 29 that focused on suicide awareness and the Legion’s “Be the One” mission. Between 40 to 50 members of the community attended the Brent Sanford Suicide Prevention Day, which was named for a Post 68 member who took his own life in June of last year at the age of 69. Several members of Sanford’s family, including his wife Colette, attended the event. The event also honored Emily Haroldsen, a 17-year-old Spanish Fork resident who took her own life in January 2020.

Knepper, who is winding down her three-year tenure as Post 68’s commander, said Sanford’s suicide “affected all of the members of our post. Most of us grew up with Brent or went to school with him. But also, I have a neighbor whose 17-year-old daughter took her own life a few years ago. Suicide has become such a big problem, certainly with our veterans, but also with our youth. I just felt like this was an opportunity to try and get some information out to the public to hopefully help people who are suffering with thoughts of suicide, or people who know people who are suffering with that and can reach out and help them not take their own lives.”

Incoming Post 68 Commander Kent Anderson served with Sanford in the National Guard and said he “had the personality that once you met him, you were friends for life. With the problems we’re having with suicides in this country, especially with veterans, we thought it would be a little more impactful to honor someone who was born and grew up in Spanish Fork and had suffered some of the problems that go along with suicide. This is something we recognize is a problem and want to do something about it.”

But Anderson said the post didn’t want to make the day only about veterans, which is why it chose to honor Haroldsen as well. “The number of suicides among young people is unbelievable,” he said. “You’ve got things like social media and things like bullying.  It really affects the young people differently than when we were growing up, it seems. This was a young girl who had everything to live for, but she didn’t see it in herself.

“I think the post should look at (suicide awareness) as its responsibility. It’s our brothers and sisters in the service, but it’s generally a problem everywhere. And most people don’t think much about it unless it hits close to home. I know Brent hit close to home when took his life.”

In addition to food vendors, representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Spanish Fork Police Department, the Nebo School District, Wasatch Mental Health and other organizations were on hand for the event to share resources. Also on display was a board that attendees were asked to sign, pledging they would not take their own lives.

Knepper praised the Legion’s “Be the One” initiative and said it was nice to be a part of the effort before she finished up as post commander.

“It feels really good to me that, as I am leaving, this (event) will be like my swan song,” she said. “I’ve made some other marks during my tenure, but it just feels really good that one of the final things that I do as commander is to start a program like this in our community.”

  • Be the One