Veterans deserve care every day to save their lives

Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are over; Veterans’ Day is more than three months away. Pausing to thank a veteran for his or her military service on those days is good, but many need the support of others throughout the year to help fight the post-traumatic distress and depression that lead too many veterans on a march to suicide.

While suicide deaths have climbed amongst all Americans, those involving military veterans comprise a significant subset. Overall, suicide in Ohio rose 36 percent from 1999 to 2016; with 1,706 total in 2016 and 210 by veterans in 2015, according to the most recent data available from multiple sources.

It is beyond enough that veterans willingly put their lives in jeopardy through their military service. They should not have to continue battling the aftereffects when they return to civilian life.

Thankfully, the issue is getting appropriate attention in central Ohio. The Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center and Ohio State University are both attacking the problem head on, and a new retreat program at The Wilds offers veterans a way to fight depression and post-combat stress.

The local VA clinic has gotten creative to boost suicide-prevention outreach to veterans. Suicide-prevention staff members have new textenabled phones to contact younger veterans, knowing they are more likely to screen calls and be hard to reach for followup services. Outpatient urgent-care hours have been increased for evenings and weekends, with promises of immediate attention for behavioral-health care.

Meanwhile, OSU’s Suicide Prevention Program works with the university’s Office of Military and Veteran Services to target outreach and specialized services to veterans. One program asked veterans “RUOK?” and offered them the opportunity to initiate anonymous communications with counselors.

And thanks to a $2 million gift from a World War II veteran from Zanesville, former service members who are fighting post-combat stress or depression can escape to The Wilds wildlife conservation center for week-long retreats offered by a California nonprofit.

The Wilds, a 10,000acre Guernsey County refuge affiliated with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, offers new veterans’ retreats with Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs based in Temecula, California. Using lakeside cabins built with the donation from oil executive Bill Straker, the faith-based programs provide a continuing support system that connects veterans with others facing similar challenges.

Also positive is a new Lancaster program, “Operation: Letters to Soldiers,” launched in the spring to show appreciation and ward off despair for military members deployed overseas. Its creator, Carla Schorr, has collected more than 1,600 letters that the United Service Organizations of Central and Southern Ohio to distribute the letters to deployed service men and women.

As word of the letter campaign spread on social media, Schorr has started helping communities across the country set up similar programs.

Any effort that can be mounted to help someone in despair from being driven to the hopelessness of suicide is worth making. When the effort is directed toward those who have already put their lives on the line for the rest of us, it is doubly blessed.

Programs that work every day to prevent veteran suicides are worth celebrating as much as all our militarythemed holidays combined. Enjoy cartoons by Nate Beeler at Dispatch.com/opinion/beeler