Email   Print   Share By Heather Graham-Ashley, Sentinel News Editor

Facebook Digg Delicious October 4, 2012 | Living

Brad Clark seeks crowd participation, with actors Joey Hood Karina Dominguez and Michelle Keffer standing behind him, during an interactive role play on Stand Down Day Sept. 27 inside Howze Auditorium. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Staff

Actors Joey Hood (right) and Aaron Alexander run through a scenario in which Alexander is playing a Soldier being scolded by his supervisor, Hood, during Stand Down Day Sept. 27 inside Howze Auditorium. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Staff

Soldiers from the 15th FMSU, 4th Sust. Bde., participate in a small group discussion about resilience and preventing suicide during the Armywide Stand Down Day held Sept. 27. Following the death of three brigade Soldiers the previous week, 4th Sust. Bde. focused on prevention all week. Heather Graham-Ashley, Sentinel News Editor

A photo hanging in the Hall of Remembrance in Fort Hood’s Survivor Outreach Services shows Timmy hugging his father, Spc. Davey Swenson, upon the Soldier’s return from Iraq. Heather Graham-Ashley, Sentinel News Editor

Sarah Campbell-Hester, a former Soldier and the widow of Sgt. 1st Class Richard Hester, spoke to Fort Hood Soldiers Sept. 27 about the impact her husband’s suicide had on her. From the panel at Palmer Theater, Campbell-Hester implored Soldiers to get help early and to intervene when a loved one is in crisis. Heather Graham-Ashley, Sentinel News Editor

As Fort Hood joined the Army in standing down Sept. 27 to prevent suicide and raise awareness about the signs and risk factors associated with suicide, Power Point presentations and briefings were replaced by interactive skits and reality from three Fort Hood Families who shared their stories about the effects of suicide.

Their pain was palpable as parents, a child and a widow of those who took their own lives shared their stories and urged Soldiers to look out for each other.

Timmy Swenson was just 6 years old when his father, Spc. David “Davey” Swenson, a Soldier with the 4th Infantry Division, took his own life in his Killeen apartment. Now 13, Timmy was at Fort Hood Sept. 27 to share his story and beg other Soldiers to get help.

“I just want it to stop,” Timmy said. “Your kids will grow up without a mom or a dad.”

Timmy was there with his grandparents to share their story and the impact his father’s decision has made on their lives.

“I couldn’t believe a dad would do it on purpose,” Timmy said.

Unfortunately, so far this year at Fort Hood, eight Soldiers have committed suicide and another seven deaths remain under investigation as potential suicides. Armywide, the trend continues. Soldiers are taking their own lives.

During Stand Down Day, Soldiers at Fort Hood received interactive training designed to promote discussion and raise awareness about the warning signs and risk factors of suicide.

An interactive role play depicting suicidal behaviors of a junior-enlisted Soldier drew Soldiers into the scenario as the audience was asked about how they would handle situations presented on stage.

“Suicides are preventable. That’s why we talk about it,” Brad Clark, one of the presenters at the play told the audience.

Clark said the show was designed to help identify the signs and risk factors in others, but also to help Soldiers identify those signs in themselves and get help.

The actors noted that failed or failing relationships and financial difficulties are among the highest risk factors with suicide. Young males who have recently suffered the loss of a close relationship are at greatest risk for a completed suicide, Clark added.

For the surviving Family members on the panel at Palmer Theater, the role play at Howze Auditorium is their reality. They were at Stand Down Day to urge Soldiers to get the help they need, for Soldiers to look out for each other and to think about those they would leave behind.

That was the message Tricia Radenz, a Fort Hood spouse who lost her son to suicide at age 12, shared – the pain of loss and the need for help.

“It’s a pain I wake up with every morning,” she said. “Think about your Family. Love your Soldiers enough to get them help.”

Now being raised by his paternal grandparents near Houston, Timmy had a difficult time accepting that his father, his hero, would end his own life.

His grandmother, Judi, was adamant that Timmy knew the truth about his father’s suicide. She is just as adamant about getting her Family the support they need and challenging other Soldiers to get the help they need.

“Stay in the fight,” she said. “Keep fighting until you win the fight.”

The words of the Families touched Sgt. Dan Reister, a Soldier assigned to the 15th Financial Management Support Unit, 4th Sustainment Brigade, who stood up and admitted there have been times he has thought about ending it all.

He relayed a story about comforting a crying noncommissioned officer he saw crying outside the barracks recently, following the brigade’s loss of three Soldiers in less than a week. Reister did not know the NCO or any of the Soldiers who died, but he empathized and he expressed his feelings to a packed Palmer Theater crowd.

“I didn’t even know these guys,” he said. “It makes my heart feel bad. We’ve got to take care of each other.”

At Reister’s unit and others across post, small group discussion followed the Family panel, interactive skits and suicide-related movies that were screened in separate locations on post.

Capt. Tony Weilbacher, commander, 15th FMSU, said any opportunity for interaction and two-way dialogue about suicide, resiliency and other welfare concerns is a great opportunity.

“Open group discussions gave the Soldiers good rapport,” Weilbacher said. “Training at the company level can help draw out any potential situations.”

While Sept. 27 was a stand down day for units across post, for Soldiers in the 4th Sust. Bde., it was a stand down week following the brigade’s three deaths the week prior.

“We are hitting this head on,” Brigade Commander Col. Mark Simerly said Sept. 24. “We’ve stopped all missions, because this is so important. We are conducting a full-court press on this issue.”

The issue at hand was the loss of Soldiers, regardless of the nature of that loss.

“We are determined to take the time to focus our energy on our Soldiers and their Families,” Simerly said.

On Sept. 27, the rest of Fort Hood joined the efforts of the Wrangler Brigade for a shared mission – to save the lives of Soldiers and raise awareness about suicide.

III Corps and Fort Hood

Commanding General Lt. Gen. Don Campbell summed up the message of the day with one word – “persevere.”

That word was one the surviving Families repeated during their time on the panel.

“There’s no shame in persevering,” Campbell said. “There’s no shame in seeking that help.”