Gov. Kay Ivey, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs and state lawmakers announced the plan that includes public service announcements and partnerships aimed at get troubled veterans the help they need.
By MIKE CASON | al.com | Published: May 14, 2021 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Tribune News Service) Gov. Kay Ivey and other state officials have announced a new campaign to prevent suicide by veterans, who statistics show are more at risk for suicide than non-veterans. The campaign, called Alabama’s Challenge, is using public service announcements to raise awareness and partnerships to identify service members, veterans and their families who are struggling and connect them with the help they need. “Once someone has served our great nation, we owe it to these great men and women to help them enter civilian life,” Ivey said. “I can think of no better way to say, ‘thank you for your service’ than ensuring these heroes and their families have access to mental health resources when in need.”
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. â Kindall Johnson woke up early that October Saturday to get to his fraternityâs Homecoming Day tailgate.
On the way out the door of his parentsâ house, he shouted a goodbye to his mother, Kathy Davis: âLove ya, Ma!â
Davis watched her 22-year-old son, the youngest of her three boys, jog out to his car and leave, like he did any other day.
He would never return.
Johnson, not even a year out of the Marine Corps, a student struggling to readjust to civilian life, went to the tailgate but skipped the football game at Missouri State University in Springfield. Instead, he drove to the parking lot of a police station and shot himself twice in the chest.
Kaitlin Washburn and Lisa Gutierrez, The Kansas City Star
Kindall Johnson woke up early that October Saturday to get to his fraternity’s Homecoming Day tailgate.
On the way out the door of his parents’ house, he shouted a goodbye to his mother, Kathy Davis: “Love ya, Ma!”
Davis watched her 22-year-old son, the youngest of her three boys, jog out to his car and leave, like he did any other day.
He would never return.
Johnson, not even a year out of the Marine Corps, a student struggling to readjust to civilian life, went to the tailgate but skipped the football game at Missouri State University in Springfield. Instead, he drove to the parking lot of a police station and shot himself twice in the chest.