MOULTRIE ā According to Veterans Administration statistics, 23 veterans kill themselves every day. Joseph Rowe was almost one of them.
by Arnaldo Rodgers
āI had a gun to my head,ā said Rowe, a Moultrie native who was in the Army at the time of his crisis. āIt was a battle buddy of mine who stopped me.ā
Pressures of the military combined with a recent divorce and other private stresses pushed Rowe over the edge. He eventually received an honorable discharge and treatment at a VA facility for bipolar disorder, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Today Rowe is back in his hometown, and he is working to give back through a new veterans organization that was begun in large part to help reduce the number of veteransā suicides.
Warrior Pointe started in 2012 in Nampa, Idaho. Reed Pacheco, a former Black Hawk crew chief, was trying to hang himself when his wife found him and got him help.
Part of his treatment were short-term group counseling sessions with the Veterans Administration. When the sessions were nearing their close, one of the participants asked about ongoing groups, but the VA counselor said they didnāt have them. So Pacheco, whoād already been giving it some thought, suggested the men start their own group.
That support group has turned into a nation-wide organization to seek help for veterans who need it. It is awaiting Internal Revenue Service approval of its nonprofit application, Rowe said.
Warrior Pointe has chapters throughout the country, divided into five ābrigades.ā Georgia is in the 2nd Brigade, and Rowe is the brigade commander. All the leadership positions are filled by volunteers.
āPart of what weāre trying to do is fill the gap of other veterans groups,ā Rowe said.
All content herein is owned by author exclusively.Ā Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VNR, authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians, or VT Network.Ā Some content may be satirical in nature.Ā
All images within are full responsibility of the author and NOT VNR.
Read Full Policy Notice - Comment Policy
Brigades and Brigade Commanders? Setting it up on a military platform ought to seem just groovy to the vets out there who had a bellyfull of commanders and other military CS enough to put a gun to their heads. But it’s one of those strange idiosyncracies of so many vets, the nostalgia of pretending the guy behind the desk has his head on right and knows something not known on this side.
Likely they’ll be having drills and practicing platoon tactics when they aren’t ordering vets not to blow their disgust with the military experience into the next lifetime.
Comments are closed.