SAN ANTONIO – Veteran suicide in Military City USA is a difficult topic.
After the second suicide in the last eight months happened last week outside the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital, advocates said addressing the topic head-on is necessary.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among veterans under age 45. The trend has a personal connection for Chris Ford, whose son-in-law died by suicide more than a year ago.
Ford has also spent much of his professional life fighting to buck that trend as the CEO of a nonprofit called Stop Soldier Suicide.
“We lose about 6,500 veterans to their own hand every year,” Ford said. “That trend, unfortunately, is not getting much better. Those rates are higher than the civilian population.”
Ford, who now works at USAA, is involved in the company’s suicide prevention partnership called Face the Fight. The partnership, which began in 2023, has spent $42 million funding programs that find at-risk veterans and sets them up with mental health resources.
“We have more than 300 companies, nonprofits, government agencies and partners who’ve joined us in this fight,” Ford said.
The partnership is also zeroing in on specific trends such as firearms, which are involved in approximately 70% of veteran suicides.
“They’re talking with actively serving service members on how to have conversations with their peers to say, ‘Hey, maybe now is not the right time to have guns at the ready in your home,’” Ford said.
The nonprofit is also working with programs that find veterans in crisis places to store their guns safely outside of their home.
“We also have other grantees that are using technology that are placed in safes in homes that once the safe is open, it sends an alert to a trusted network and saying, ‘Hey, the safe has been open. Can you reach out to the owner and make sure everything’s OK?’”
Their extensive research has also found a deep connection between veteran financial issues and suicide, which will be published in the coming months.
“And, more importantly, work with other financial services companies and maybe even aid agencies to ensure that they know how to screen for those risks as part of their services and refer veterans they’re working with into relevant care,” Ford said.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or thoughts of suicide, veterans can call 988 and then press “1” for veteran-specific support. You can also text TALK or HELLO to 741-741 or go to crisistextline.org.
Veterans can also seek out additional support at Face the Fight.
You can also reach out to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) or the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) at 210-223-7233 (SAFE) or 800-316-9241. You can also text NAMI to 741-741.
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