American Legion departments share their Be the One stories, plans during Washington Conference session.
A session was scheduled on Feb. 23 during The American Legion’s Washington Conference to provide an overview of the organization’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention mission, as well as deliver a training session on the Columbia Protocol.
But something shared during the session showed that at any time, anyone can be the one to reach out to another veteran, and that any phone call can end up being a Buddy Check.
American Legion Department of Iowa American Legion Riders Chairman Cliff Baker, the department’s 6th District vice commander and a member of the Iowa’s Be the One Committee, spoke about the department’s Be the One QPR Team. The team will be made up of certified QPR (question, persuade, refer) suicide prevention gatekeepers through the QPR Institute and train others at the post level in their districts.
But before getting to that, Barker shared a personal experience he had before heading to the nation’s capital. He was going through a list of Ames American Legion Post 37’s members and called a 36-year member who had yet to renew his membership. “That turned into a Buddy Check call that went about 25 minutes,” Barker said.
Barker proceeded to ask the Legionnaire if he felt he was in danger (of suicide) or if he’d been in danger before. He then gave the Legionnaire his cell number and told him he could reach out at any time, and reached out to others in the organization to help keep tabs on how the veteran was doing.
“I don’t know him personally,” Barker said. “Thirty-six years in the Legion, and he doesn’t come in much. But I will get to know him. You don’t know when Buddy Check calls are going to come up. You just don’t.
“It could be someone in your post. It could be someone in your family. It could be someone you work with.”
Iowa’s QPR Team program was one of a handful of Be the One and suicide prevention efforts taking part at the department level shared during the session. The Department of Arkansas is encouraging posts to include Be the One on their monthly meeting agendas and also is incorporating the program in their mobile training team itineraries.
In New Jersey, the department is hosting Be the One training sessions at two different posts in conjunction with The American Legion birthday on March 15. And in Burlington County, the American Legion Auxiliary is conducting a women veteran suicide prevention seminar in late March.
As well as the sharing of grass-roots efforts and the Columbia Protocol training session, Be the One Program Manager Tony Cross also gave an overview of where Be the One is now and what he is looking toward in the future. He noted more than 13,000 Legion Family members have taken the Columbia training, putting the Legion on track to train 100,000 members by the end of 2025.
“Here’s my belief. The American Legion has been around (since 1919). At no time have we ever focused on each other,” Cross said. “We’ve focused on the PACT Act, on Agent Orange. We helped the VA create themselves. We’ve never focused on each other, really knowing each other. Half these members, you don’t even know who they are. They’ve never even been communicated with. I think Be the One has the ability to help us grow.”
It also has an impact at the personal level. “I’ve been here 24 hours, and I’ve had two people seek me out,” Cross said. “You know what they want to talk about? That they attempted suicide. That’s a good thing. Before we never had that.
“I don’t know these people. They only knew that I was part of this Be the One mission. And I just let them talk. And it makes a difference. I’ve six people from (American Legion National Headquarters) come to me … that had attempted suicide. It’s more common than you think.”
Cross said his program has the opportunity to impact the Legion nationwide. “Be the One has affected every one of us. And we’re really just getting started,” he said. “I believe the Be the One has the ability to change the whole Legion. You reach out to people, people will want to talk about it. This is our No. 1 mission.”
- Be the One