Department Commander Timothy Collmer has made suicide-prevention mission his highest priority.
During his tenure as American Legion Department of New York commander from 2022 to 2023, David Riley Sr. made it a point to bring up the Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention program at all of his stops.
And when Timothy Collmer took over as department commander last summer, he wasn’t going to let wane the attention Be the One was getting within the state. That’s why he’s also made the program a priority, including at the department’s Mid-Winter Conference.
Collmer briefed the media on Be the One and also announced the department was awarding two grants to organizations that assist at-risk veterans. Discussions also took place on how to recognize veterans who may be at risk and then urge them to receive help.
“Dave and I have been good friends for quite a few years,” Collmer said. “(Be the One) was Dave’s big thing last year, and I just carried it over. To me, it made sense: Continue on with what we’ve got going on and help as many veterans as we can along the way.”
A member of Daniel Goho Post 87 in Dansville, Collmer said part of every speech he delivers at Legion functions is on Be the One. For him, an experience assisting a veteran as a county service officer is why preventing veteran suicides is so important to him.
“I was on my way into work one morning, and he called me up and said, ‘Tim, I’ve had enough. I’m going to commit suicide,’” he said. “I said, ‘No, you’re not.’ I went right to his house, took the gun out of his hand and took him into the office. I was with him until 3 o’clock in the morning at our Bath VA (Medical Center) making sure he got the help he needed. And so for me, it’s personal.”
In the past two years, the Department of New York has awarded more than $500,000 in grants to organizations directly helping veterans at risk of suicide or homelessness. The grants awarded during this year’s conference were:
• $100,000 to the American Legion Auxiliary Foundation to fund creative arts therapy for struggling vets; and
• $30,000 to High and Mighty Therapeutic Riding and Driving Center in Ghent, N.Y., to help fund equine therapy for vets with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It’s unbelievable how well (Be the One) has been received,” Collmer said. “I think it’s a great thing, and we need to keep on going with it and get those (suicide) numbers down. It needs to be done, and we’re going to carry it on.”
- Be the One