No one needs to be told that our veterans are suffering. Every day, the news tells us about further cuts to the Veteran’s Administration, and less funding for programs designed to help these heroes adjust to life after service. But when you look beyond those headlines, to the actual human cost of these decisions, the numbers are terrifying.
According to the U.S Department of Veteran Affairs 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report, an average of 18 veterans commit suicide every day. Today, while you read these words, it is happening to someone who once stood the line for your freedom.
Although they only make up 7% of the entire population, they represent 14% of all suicides. Their light is not being snuffed out by an enemy combatant or a mortar round, but by our own failure to act.
“The biggest problem is that our federal government, writ large, and our Department of Defense are not equipped to deal with the difficult issues that our service members suffer from when they’re on active duty,” said Admiral John “Boomer” Stufflebeem. He speaks from experience, having seen the military apparatus at every level, from ground combat and fighter aircraft operations to having served as a military aide to the Bush administration during the War on Terror’s earliest days.
In fact, in those darkest days at the start of the war, before embedded reporters could bring us images of operations in Afghanistan, our only source of news was daily briefings held by Stufflebeem at the Pentagon.
“Secretary Rumsfeld designated me to be the one to talk about all these operations we were executing,” he said. “I was only supposed to do it one time. It was seven months before I got off to go take command of a task force.”
During his celebrated career he racked up honors including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Meritorious Service Medal, among others. And he gained crucial insight into the shortcomings of the safety net we’ve built for veterans.
“The two largest departments of the executive branch are the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs,” he said. “That’s number one and number two by size and by budget … and by any stretch of any imagination, those two combined have failed most of our military.”
Fortunately, Stufflebeem sees a way forward in helping these veterans. Along with his own medical consulting work, which is breaking new barriers in treatments for PTSD using cutting-edge quantum technology, he has pushed his efforts toward the private sector, working with organizations like OPFOB to help not only veterans but also first responders.
“Nobody takes care of veterans and first responders better than veterans and first responders,” he said. “And there’s an old saying I’m stealing from a brave Marine, but ‘If not me, then who?’”
As a keynote speaker at OPFOB’s upcoming Dinner for Heroes, he will share some of those experiences with a crowd gathered to help the organization in their mission to support veterans and first responders and help them cope with the aftermath of their calling.
“The service is very rewarding until you can’t do it anymore. Being a first responder is very rewarding until you can’t do it anymore. Especially for the first responder community, there aren’t organizations like the VA that are there for them,” Stufflebeem said. “So, it falls to the private sector.”
The heart of what OPFOB does can be found on its sprawling rustic campus in Ridgeland. Among the peaceful serenity of its grounds, veterans and first responders have found a place to come together to find camaraderie and purpose. It’s a place for healing, in a country that has by and large provided these heroes with far too little opportunity. OPFOB gives these heroes that renewed sense of purpose and a new-found camaraderie, without which too many veterans succumb to their grief. These opportunities are offered at no cost to them.
The fourth annual Dinner for the Heroes will be held November 8 at Hilton Beachfront Resort and Spa. Joining Stufflebeem as a keynote speaker will be combat veteran, Super Bowl champion, and American hero Rocky Bleier.
A four-time champ with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played running back, Bleier was drafted out of Notre Dame where he helped win a national championship. After just one year in the league, his football career seemed like it would be cut short when he was drafted into the U.S. Army at the height of the Vietnam War. After being severely injured in an ambush, it seemed like it would take a miracle for Bleier to ever play again. The lessons he learned during his triumph over his injuries and his return to gridiron glory form the basis of his second life as a public speaker.
Proceeds from the event go toward maintaining OPFOB’s 268 acres and to all the programs for the thousands of veterans it serves each year.
Sponsorships are still available, ranging from sponsoring a hero ($1,500) to Presenting Sponsor ($20,000) with a deadline of September 15. To learn more about attending or sponsoring Dinner for the Heroes, email Craig Ostergard at craigostergard@yahoo.com.
