Tag: #suicide

Mental Health – Tossing Toxic Tails on the Tarmac

(Pensacola, Florida; June 16, 2022) – I threw Alvin out of my house and life only 48 hours into a five-day visit. ‘Alvin’ is not his real name, but we’ll use it here.  I met him in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area back in 2014 when my ex-wife and I first separated.  I was predictably devastated … Continue reading Mental Health – Tossing Toxic Tails on the Tarmac

Veteran Talk – Twenty Years Later

(Niceville, Florida; 11 September 2021) – Twenty years ago today I was standing on the flight deck of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) as we spun up the Tomcats of VF-213 for a routine day of flying over the Arabian Sea. One of our civilian tech reps had a small camera and waved to me, … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Twenty Years Later

Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans 2

(Niceville, Florida; August 21, 2021) – It’s been five days now since we watched the horrific farce play out in Afghanistan. I can’t even look at any of my ‘Navy Pride’ stuff.  T-shirts, ball caps, anything.  Looking at it fills me with such rage, such betrayal, such a singular sense of senseless futility that I … Continue reading Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans 2

Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans

(Niceville, Florida; August 17, 2021) – I cannot offer any witty remarks or humorous proverbs about what happened yesterday in Afghanistan.  I’m a veteran myself.  My deployments were at sea, but all were in support of my brothers and sisters on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq.  I helped launch the first Navy manned strikes … Continue reading Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans

Mental Health: Stop Talking and Start LISTENING, for Crying out Loud!

**Author's Note: This column was supposed to be published yesterday morning (Nov. 19), but human error delayed it by 24 hours. I uploaded and prepped everything, but forgot to hit the "publish" button. (Silverdale, Washington; Nov. 19, 2020) – I did something this past Monday I’ve never done before: I walked out of my counselor’s … Continue reading Mental Health: Stop Talking and Start LISTENING, for Crying out Loud!