Sometimes the simple action of reading can save a veteran’s life. This is the story of a volunteer who did so much with very little.
Deb Boyce is a volunteer with GallantFew, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping in the transition of veterans from active duty to the civilian world. Deb compiles the weekly newsletter for GallantFew, spending hours roaming various veteran and military Facebook groups, chat-rooms and websites in search of articles and information for her readers. At the request of Karl Monger, Executive Director of GallantFew, she also monitors those pages for veterans in need of immediate assistance.
Recently, Deb was perusing a particular Facebook page for content when she came across the following post:
“The Veterans System has put me in a simple place, their “Committee” issued my Death Warrant. That is OK! They woke up one of the most dangerous Men in America. I have decided to commit Suicide and take a few of these assholes, when the Committee decide they were right and I was wrong and that I am not worth saving for a little while longer why should I just sit down and die. The field of battle has never worried me, I can only die once! The Cowards in the VA die a thousand times. Your great Brother’s and Sister’s love you all! Oh! Yeah! The Suicide line of the VA is to say they tried, so when you die it is you and only you that caused it!”
Immediately recognizing the potential for a disastrous situation, Deb reached out to Karl Monger and Boone Cutler of National Warfighter Program. Boone and Karl had recently presented this situation to the Western States’ Hostage Negotiators Association and had trained on how to deal with the situation.
Then, a multi-pronged response began.
Using the available, open-source information obtained from the internet, Deb began trying to get ahold of the 911 in the area where veteran was thought to reside. After four different calls starting in her local town in Mississippi, she was finally able to connect with a dispatcher in the town where the veteran lived. A police response was initiated and after hearing that the veteran had a wife at home with him, the situation quickly escalated into a hostage negotiation.
Boone Cutler and his wife Malisalou were also working frantically trying to get in touch with the veteran in need. After receiving the copied information of the veteran’s Facebook page, Boone sent the Veteran a direct message and included his telephone number. The immediate response from the veteran was chilling, “…it’s too late, my house is already surrounded.”
Yet, a couple minutes later, Boone’s phone rang; it was the veteran.
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