Legionnaires share their Be the One story during the Legion’s National Regional Information Conference in Indianapolis.
How can you Be the One? That was the first question asked to Legionnaires attending the Be the One session at The American Legion’s National Regional Information Conference Jan. 31 in Indianapolis.
“Listen” was echoed by the nearly 100 Legionnaires in attendance.
Be the One is a mission of The American Legion to reduce veteran suicide by ending the stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment, asking veterans if they are OK, listening when a veteran needs to talk, and reaching out when a veteran is struggling.
“There’s a huge stigma with it (asking for help), and there’s also the part where people don’t want to personally talk about it. For me, it was hard to talk about personally because I lost my nephew to suicide three years ago,” shared Department of Oklahoma Commander Steven Thomas, who attended the training. “So we put together an event where we didn’t have to talk about it; people could just see it.”
A flag-draped casket was set up outside the Grove Community Center in Grove, Okla., last Nov. 22, where Thomas and 125 other Oklahoma Legion Family members stood guard in 22-minute rotations for 22 hours starting at 2 p.m.
“We had three members of the community who came up that said, ‘I just needed to come up here and talk to somebody because I’ve been thinking about it.’ So it does make a difference. It may not be talking as much as action sometimes.”
During the training, attendees were shown a slide on how to listen for signs. These include nonverbal signs such as putting personal affairs in order, engaging in self-destructive behavior or planning to get away with no return plans. Along with words said such as “I’m tired,” “It would be better if I wasn’t here” or “No one would miss me.”
The Legionnaires were then encouraged to do two things to help identify what signs to look for and how to listen and connect a veteran to resources:
1. Download the Be the One app available through Apple and Google. The app was developed by Columbia University and uses the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale, the leading evidence-based tool for suicide risk screening, that asks a simple series of questions that anyone can use to help prevent suicide.
2. Take Be the One training. The American Legion and Columbia University Lighthouse Project provide free suicide prevention training by using the Columbia Protocol, a 90-minute session on Zoom that provides a simple, clear framework to identify suicidal thoughts and behaviors, enabling anyone to confidently ask the right questions and take action. Register for training.
“You can listen, or if you find an issue, refer, is what the Columbia Protocol taught me,” shared Morris Sadicario, adjutant and historian of American Legion Post 501 in Madison, Wis.
Before the Be the One session closed, attendee Faith Jones reminded her fellow Legionnaires that suicide affects more than one.
“I just wanted to say that suicide isn’t just a face. It’s not just affecting that person,” shared Jones, a member of American Legion Post 77 in Brookville, Ind. Jones lost her husband, who went into law enforcement following his military service, to suicide. “It’s not just somebody, it affects everybody, and you never know what’s going through that person’s mind. I thought I knew my husband; we were married 13 years. We had two little boys, and I think the hardest part was telling the boys.”
The message shared by Jones encouraged another Legionnaire to stand and give his number out.
“I tell everyone this phone is no further than my hand about 95% of the time. You can call me anytime. I will talk to you as long as you need. I’m always going to listen; I’m willing to do whatever it needs to help you.”
- Be the One