ANSBACH, Germany (Sept. 25, 2014) -- More than 600 Soldiers, Family members and civilians turned out Sept. 24 at Urlas Housing to show their support during the Suicide Prevention Awareness Month 3-kilometer Walk/Run.
September is Army Suicide Awareness Month, and Sept. 8 through 14 was National Suicide Prevention Week. The Army is using the timeframe to promote suicide awareness and resilience, with the theme of "Enhancing Resiliency -- Strengthening Our Professionals."
Earlier this month the Army issued a tri-signed letter with a focus on suicide awareness and resilience, challenging leaders to "set the conditions for enduring culture change in our profession by being interveners instead of bystanders." The letter was signed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III.
The message also calls on all Soldiers, family members and civilians to "seek training opportunities, use available services and resources and continue to develop skills which build personal resilience and lead to positive outcomes during periods of increased stress," and for leaders to "assess their units and engage in events and training to foster a climate of trust that supports help-seeking behaviors."
In support of Army Suicide Awareness Month and the Army's Ready and Resilient Campaign, units across the Army are engaging in training throughout the month, as well as events like the 3K at Urlas.
"We do a lot of runs and walks in this community, but this one -- it's really meaningful," said Dr. Shayne Gallaway, suicide prevention coordinator with U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach's Army Substance Abuse Program. "We're doing it to continue raising awareness about suicide prevention because it really takes a whole community to try to prevent suicide."
Gallaway said 350 people pre-registered for the event, and roughly the same number registered on site. ASAP, who hosted the event with USAG Ansbach Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, gave out bright yellow T-shirts to hundreds of the participants. The shirts say "One Suicide is Too Many!" along with "Ask, Care, & Escort," also known as ACE.
Lt. Col. David A. Markiewicz, the executive officer for USAG Ansbach, who spoke before the event, agreed with Gallaway about the power of community.
"It takes us as a community to look around our formations -- look left and right, look at your friends and look at your family members -- and take care of them," Markiewicz told the gathered runners and walkers. "It doesn't take much. It takes you to care."
Guest speaker Staff Sgt. Uzziyah M. Cohen, whose eldest brother took his own life in 2005, also spoke. Cohen, who serves as training noncommissioned officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, shared with the crowd the impact his brother's suicide had on him. Cohen said his brother ended his life during a time when the two were not on good terms, which made it even more difficult.
Cohen said he's heard suicide described as a permanent solution to a temporary problem, but he takes issue with that description because suicide does not fix things.
"Suicide is hopelessness implanting itself in your soul," he said. "Suicide is a brother forever losing his brother, or sister. Suicide is a parent losing their child forever. Forever," Cohen repeated.
Cohen, who hails from Israel, talked about how, at the site of a now-ancient fortification in Israel called Masada, nearly 1,000 Sicarii rebels took part in a mass suicide about 2,000 years ago as Roman troops closed in on them. Today many members of the Israel Defense Forces, having just completed their basic training, have experiences conducting their swearing-in ceremony at the Masada site -- which includes the declaration, "Masada shall not fall again."
This carries special significance for Cohen because to him it means Israeli soldiers' commitment to hope is permanent; whereas Cohen describes suicide as a lack of hope.
"Every day when I put on my ACUs, I put on my brother's staff sergeant chevrons over my heart," Cohen said. "It's not to be morbid or dark or anything of the sort. It's a reminder for me to focus on hope. Hope is what gives you the motivation to move forward."
Cohen said although he and his brother had their differences, he has faith he is living the life his brother would have wanted him to live. Cohen keeps his brother's memory alive by living that life and honoring his memory by talking about him with others. One of his goals in talking to people -- many of whom may be going through tough times -- is "letting people know it doesn't have to be hopeless, but it can be hopeful."
"What I'm begging and pleading of you today," Cohen told the crowd, "is to have an open heart, to have an open mind, to have compassion. Compassion is the one thing that will move anyone away from something as dark and as permanent as suicide."
Giving someone hope and demonstrating compassion can start simply, he said, like asking others how they are doing and stopping to listen to the answer. Simple, daily acts of reaching out, Cohen said, "can make all the difference. It can make someone's day."
Cohen added, "You have the power to change someone's life with the simplest of things."
Suicide Prevention Hotline: 09641-83-118 | DSN: 118
MPs: Katterbach: 09802-83-114 | DSN: 114
MPs: Storck: Military Police: 09841-83-114 | DSN: 114
Ansbach Polizei: 0981-909-4114
For more resources, see the "Related Links" section to the right of this story.
Related Links:
USAG Ansbach Emergency Numbers
BG Bobeck: Every suicide tragic, got to get to zero
STAND-TO!: Army Suicide Awareness Month
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