The department is working with state legislators to establish five days that bring awareness to veteran and youth suicide prevention.
The American Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention mission is personal to Tennessee Legionnaire Todd McKinley – he lost his best friend, fellow Army veteran and paratrooper to suicide. McKinley published a book dedicated to the memory of Brad Bush, who died by suicide on Christmas Eve in 2017, called “Those Left Behind: Veteran Suicide and My Late Best Friend Brad Bush.”
“This is about somebody’s life. He was a good, solid person that you wanted in your corner. He was going to be in your corner no matter what, like a true friend should be,” said McKinley, Department of Tennessee commander. “You know, sometimes it's better to ask if somebody is OK, even if they're like, ‘I’m not suicidal, what are you talking about?’ and ask for forgiveness than it is to get that phone call the next day.”
As the new department commander, McKinley is focusing on bringing awareness to Be the One and veteran and youth suicide. And proceeds from the sale of his book will help support this mission.
“When the Legion came out with Be the One, I was like, wow, this is perfect. Train people what the signs are, what to look for, what you might miss,” McKinley said. “And at the same time, talk about the problem of suicide that people don't really talk about in polite company. We should talk about it because whenever you don't talk about something, you make it taboo and then people might be scared to go get help for that issue. We should be discussing it.”
McKinley created a Be the One Commission that currently involves about a dozen American Legion, Sons of The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary members from across the state. Their initial goal is to work with state legislators to have five days designated throughout the year that bring awareness to suicide prevention.
The five days are:
1. Be the One Tennessee Day
2. Anti-Bullying Day
3. Post-Traumatic Stress Day
4. Traumatic Brain Injury Day
5. Military Sexual Assault Trauma
“I think it’s going to have a lasting effect if we can get this started this year,” said McKinely, who is already working with several state senators that he has relationships with to move this initiative forward. “All Legionnaires should have a good working relationship with their legislators even if you don't know them personally. Anybody can form those relationships just by reaching out and sitting down and having a conversation with them versus trying to be adversarial every time you need something.”
The commission also will see what current state legislation addresses these five days or lobby for legislative to address these issues if there is none. “Let's say, for example, when it comes to TBI, PTSD or military sexual trauma that there's a university or a nonprofit within the state that's working on those things that just needs a little bit of funding. Maybe we can work to assist in getting funding to those areas,” McKinley said. “I think (the Be the One Commission) will bear fruit very soon, and we'll see what happens moving forward.
“And I hope the commission sets an example for other departments, if they wanted to follow it,” McKinley added. “It doesn't have to be a Be the One Commission. It could be anything that you need to tackle in your home state for veterans, for children and youth, whatever the case may be. I think this commission encompasses all that.”
- Be the One