Latest / Behavioral Health Brief / Ep 1 | The Courage To Call: Healing Our Heroes On Their Road To Wellness

Transcript

Ep 1 | The Courage To Call: Healing Our Heroes On Their Road To Wellness · Behavioral Health Brief

0:06
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Behavioral Health Brief. I'm Jim Callahan, and
0:10
Speaker 1: I have the honor of being the President and CEO
0:13
Speaker 1: of Turn Behavioral Health Services, an organization driven by one
0:18
Speaker 1: clear mission, improving lives. I often ask myself, is there
0:23
Speaker 1: anything more important than that?
0:26
Speaker 2: My belief is this.
0:28
Speaker 1: When improving lives guides our decisions, stronger systems and healthier
0:33
Speaker 1: communities follow, that belief is the hope behind this podcast
0:38
Speaker 1: and all the future podcasts we have planned. Today's episode
0:43
Speaker 1: is about courage, the courage to serve, the courage to lead,
0:48
Speaker 1: and just as importantly, the courage to seek help. Only
0:51
Speaker 1: a small percentage about one percent of Americans answer the
0:55
Speaker 1: call to serve in uniform. Even fewer carry the burden
1:00
Speaker 1: of combat leadership and responsibility over decades, and fewer still
1:06
Speaker 1: are willing to reflect openly on what service leaves behind
1:10
Speaker 1: long after the uniform comes off. Joining us today is
1:15
Speaker 1: retired US Captain Sheldon Margolis, a Vietnam War combat veteran,
1:21
Speaker 1: naval commander, lifelong public servant, and continued advocate for veterans
1:27
Speaker 1: in their families. Sheldon, thank you for being here today
1:30
Speaker 1: and for the work that you continue to do on
1:33
Speaker 1: behalf of veterans, and just to share with our audience,
1:37
Speaker 1: I wanted to start with You've shared thirty years in.
1:40
Speaker 2: The United States Navy.
1:42
Speaker 1: Earning some of the military's highest honor, a Bronze Star Medal,
1:46
Speaker 1: a Purple Heart, three Legions of Merit Awards, combat Action Ribbon,
1:53
Speaker 1: two Presidential Unit Citation Awards, among the many that you
1:58
Speaker 1: have been awarded your military career. You continued, you lead
2:02
Speaker 1: with purpose, serving as the president and CEO of the
2:06
Speaker 1: Veterans Museum at Balboa Park and currently as the chief
2:09
Speaker 1: financial officer for the Navy League of the and Diego Council.
2:14
Speaker 1: So start us off for the listeners who may not
2:17
Speaker 1: know you yet, could you share a bit about your
2:20
Speaker 1: naval career and.
2:21
Speaker 2: What drew you to serve.
2:24
Speaker 3: Well, like many people, I had not a lot of
2:28
Speaker 3: interest in serving, but a lot of interest in going
2:31
Speaker 3: to college. And there was this program called Navy ROTC
2:36
Speaker 3: and I said, well, if I do that and then
2:39
Speaker 3: serve for four years, I can get out and start
2:42
Speaker 3: my professional career. What I found out after those four
2:46
Speaker 3: years is that I was given the opportunity to lead
2:52
Speaker 3: at a very young age, and the opportunity to have
2:54
Speaker 3: tremendous responsibility, and suddenly it was thirty years later.
3:01
Speaker 2: Wow.
3:01
Speaker 3: So it turned out that this little scholarship really led
3:08
Speaker 3: me to a great career in the Navy and an
3:11
Speaker 3: opportunity to not only serve individually as the CEO of
3:17
Speaker 3: a guided missile destroyer, but also to run major training
3:20
Speaker 3: centers and to help in the development of what is
3:24
Speaker 3: now the AEGIS weapons System, the core of the surface
3:28
Speaker 3: combatants in the Navy today. So it was a great experience.
3:31
Speaker 3: I mean, I truly enjoyed what I did in the
3:33
Speaker 3: service and a job. The job took us all over
3:37
Speaker 3: the country, and we were very fortunate over time with
3:41
Speaker 3: that service.
3:42
Speaker 1: So maybe you could expand a bit on what were
3:44
Speaker 1: some of your early leadership opportunities when you had joined
3:48
Speaker 1: the Navy and then all of a sudden you're a
3:50
Speaker 1: leader and you've got how many people working for you?
3:53
Speaker 1: And what were those responsibilities and how did you manage
3:56
Speaker 1: all that?
3:57
Speaker 3: So I was very interesting. So I started off as
4:00
Speaker 3: a division officer division officer ownership and thought that that
4:05
Speaker 3: would be my path forward in the Navy. When I
4:10
Speaker 3: got a note from the detailer that said they needed
4:13
Speaker 3: people of that experience to go to Vietnam. And my
4:17
Speaker 3: question back was I thought everybody going to Vietnam were volunteers.
4:23
Speaker 3: And his response was, when you signed up, that was
4:27
Speaker 3: the last chance you had to volunteer. So there I
4:32
Speaker 3: was on my way to riverboats and XO of a
4:38
Speaker 3: river division, about sixty to seventy people working for me
4:44
Speaker 3: doing patrols on the rivers of Vietnam. We started in
4:49
Speaker 3: a relatively quiet area and ended up right on the
4:53
Speaker 3: Vietnam Cambodia border, and we were there for a tet
4:59
Speaker 3: of nineteen six. Wow, so very you know, a real
5:03
Speaker 3: experience leading these young men. We talk about the youngsters
5:08
Speaker 3: in the Navy. There were three or four people in
5:10
Speaker 3: my group that were older than I was at twenty five,
5:15
Speaker 3: but most of the folks that worked for us were
5:18
Speaker 3: younger than that.
5:19
Speaker 2: Wow. So like right out of high school or maybe
5:21
Speaker 2: junior college.
5:22
Speaker 3: Right out of high school, or on their second tour
5:24
Speaker 3: in the Navy, and they predominantly were volunteers. They came
5:30
Speaker 3: into the Navy to avoid the draft, yeah, and thought
5:35
Speaker 3: that they were going to be on some nice ship somewhere,
5:39
Speaker 3: and here we were in the brown waters of Vietnam. Yeah.
5:42
Speaker 1: As I said to you when we met the other
5:44
Speaker 1: day for coffee. I had a boss at one point
5:47
Speaker 1: in time, and he enlisted and he ended up in
5:49
Speaker 1: the Green Berets, and he ended up jumping out of
5:52
Speaker 1: helicopters and sending landmines on the Hochi Men trail and
5:56
Speaker 1: your group probably picked him up as they were getting
5:58
Speaker 1: to be able to get picked up and out of
6:00
Speaker 1: the hot zone and moved on. And he was very
6:05
Speaker 1: young at the time, twenty four, twenty three, twenty four,
6:09
Speaker 1: never expected that he was going to be in that position.
6:12
Speaker 1: So interesting, very interesting.
6:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was. I would have to just say that
6:18
Speaker 3: the easy part of the job was going out on
6:22
Speaker 3: the rivers myself. The hard part of the job was
6:25
Speaker 3: sending out these young kids knowing that you were sending
6:28
Speaker 3: them into areas where where combat was likely, so very
6:35
Speaker 3: very mind changing kinds of operations that really affected you
6:42
Speaker 3: in a way you never knew.
6:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, can you expand on that, the mind changing expectations
6:47
Speaker 1: when you're sending people like I'm a CEO, I don't
6:51
Speaker 1: send people out into the battlefield.
6:53
Speaker 2: I can't imagine what that would be like.
6:54
Speaker 3: So I thought it was very very challenging. I was
6:59
Speaker 3: okay as I say, going out myself. It wasn't until
7:03
Speaker 3: years later that I realized how much that sending people
7:07
Speaker 3: out had gotten into my head and what its effect
7:12
Speaker 3: was years later, having left combat, having left the Navy. Yeah,
7:17
Speaker 3: and then suddenly for the forty years later, realizing that
7:24
Speaker 3: my mind was not as straight as I thought it was.
7:26
Speaker 2: Yeah. Interesting. Interesting.
7:28
Speaker 1: We'll get into that a little bit later today. But
7:31
Speaker 1: when you look back over the thirty years in uniform,
7:34
Speaker 1: what were you what are you.
7:35
Speaker 2: Most proud of? Well? And what stays with you the
7:39
Speaker 2: most well.
7:39
Speaker 3: I think that while you enjoy being the commanding officer
7:44
Speaker 3: of a ship, you know, one ship off doing its job,
7:47
Speaker 3: a couple of deployments, what really sticks with me were
7:52
Speaker 3: the two major training centers I was in charge of.
7:55
Speaker 3: So in the last years of my command, I spent
7:59
Speaker 3: last years my time in the Navy. I spent four
8:01
Speaker 3: and a half years in a place called Dalgren, Virginia,
8:05
Speaker 3: where I was the CEO who put together the AEGIS
8:09
Speaker 3: Training Center. Yeah, okay, and AGIS, for those that may
8:13
Speaker 3: not know, is the core combat system on the largest
8:17
Speaker 3: number of ships in the Navy today. And then going
8:23
Speaker 3: on to be CEO of Fleet Combat training Center where
8:26
Speaker 3: I took the rest of the ships in the Navy
8:29
Speaker 3: and got to train them and getting ready for deployment.
8:31
Speaker 3: So those were the jobs where you affected thousands of
8:36
Speaker 3: people each year, getting them ready to go to sea
8:39
Speaker 3: and to do their job.
8:40
Speaker 2: Interesting.
8:41
Speaker 1: Maybe we could back up a bit and if you
8:43
Speaker 1: don't mind me asking what did you do to receive
8:46
Speaker 1: the bronze star, metal and or the purple Heart.
8:50
Speaker 3: Well, I would say that I was I was at
8:54
Speaker 3: curly careless and allowed the North that to me ease
9:00
Speaker 3: Viet Cong to get to me. So we were in
9:05
Speaker 3: our base camp in tent of sixty nine when they
9:09
Speaker 3: attacked us and the bridge above us. Rocket came through
9:13
Speaker 3: my tent. A rocket hit the bridge, chunks of concrete
9:16
Speaker 3: and steel came down from the bridge, some of which
9:19
Speaker 3: I still carry with me. And as a result of
9:23
Speaker 3: the actions that day, I got a purple Heart because
9:26
Speaker 3: I was wounded, and a Bronze Star for continuing to
9:29
Speaker 3: do my job to call in counter battery fire and
9:33
Speaker 3: execute our return fire and overcoming the attack that the
9:42
Speaker 3: Vietcong had launched on us.
9:44
Speaker 2: Wow, it's amazing, I can remember. I was young. I
9:48
Speaker 2: was probably.
9:50
Speaker 1: What year was that sixty nine sixty nine, So I
9:53
Speaker 1: was probably like twelve years old when all this was occurring,
9:57
Speaker 1: because my brother got called up to duty and he
10:00
Speaker 1: got shipped off to Vietnam, and he came home and
10:04
Speaker 1: when he was done with his he packed up and
10:07
Speaker 1: moved to Hawaii and has lived there ever since. But
10:10
Speaker 1: I can remember seeing films of what was occurring over
10:15
Speaker 1: in Vietnam.
10:16
Speaker 2: So it's just amazing.
10:18
Speaker 1: Well, how about the three Legion of Merit awards, Well
10:21
Speaker 1: that those were really the results of those training commands.
10:25
Speaker 3: Okay, and my last three tours the Captain, I was
10:31
Speaker 3: fortunate to have wonderful people working for me who made
10:34
Speaker 3: me look really good, and I was able to be
10:38
Speaker 3: recognized for running those training commands and also some work
10:43
Speaker 3: at the Naval Surface for staff here in San Diego.
10:46
Speaker 3: So really surrounding yourself by really smart people, making sure
10:51
Speaker 3: they're able to do their jobs, and in the end
10:55
Speaker 3: they compliment you for what you've done.
10:57
Speaker 2: And given them the tools to do their job right.
11:00
Speaker 1: That's what I hear a lot from in my business,
11:03
Speaker 1: is you know, getting the good tools to be able to.
11:05
Speaker 2: Do the job and serve the people is what is
11:08
Speaker 2: so critically well.
11:09
Speaker 3: The challenge is to make sure that they are not
11:12
Speaker 3: constrained by your bosses. So my job was to keep
11:16
Speaker 3: my bosses entertained while they were able to do their
11:20
Speaker 3: job of training the fleet. So we were really and
11:23
Speaker 3: we were very good at what we did.
11:25
Speaker 2: How many people would you train at one time or groups.
11:28
Speaker 3: Well, it depends, you know, we'd have in Dahlgren, we'd
11:32
Speaker 3: have eight or ten classes of twelve to fifteen people
11:38
Speaker 3: on site. We had groups of our staff who were
11:43
Speaker 3: stationed from road to Spain to Yukuska, Japan who were
11:49
Speaker 3: training the ships at sea during that time. So you know,
11:53
Speaker 3: we'd train. We'd probably have for four or five hundred
11:58
Speaker 3: people one campus plus trained four or five ships that
12:01
Speaker 3: were deployed around the world. Really very exciting and.
12:05
Speaker 2: So you were.
12:06
Speaker 1: So that was after you were in Vietnam, that you
12:09
Speaker 1: were in these different locations throughout the world working at
12:12
Speaker 1: the training centers for new recruits that were coming in.
12:15
Speaker 3: And well, I'd spent so it came back out of Vietnam,
12:20
Speaker 3: I went to the Naval Postgraduate School. I was on
12:24
Speaker 3: limited duty because of the wound from the Purple Art
12:27
Speaker 3: and then begame and began a naval career that was
12:31
Speaker 3: split between weapons systems acquisition, the AEGIS program, and doing
12:37
Speaker 3: normal jobs at sea. The department had XOCEO of tours
12:41
Speaker 3: at SEED and then finalizing the career with the running
12:45
Speaker 3: the training centers.
12:46
Speaker 1: Right and then we talked the other day. After the
12:50
Speaker 1: training centers, you went to work for Lockheed.
12:52
Speaker 3: I went to work for Lockheed. Lockheed felt that turnabout
12:57
Speaker 3: was fair play. When I'd been on my active the time,
13:00
Speaker 3: I'd been supervising Lockheed in their oh and their production
13:05
Speaker 3: of the AGIS weapons system back when they were RCA,
13:09
Speaker 3: et cetera. And then I went back to work for
13:12
Speaker 3: them and took on the job of being the international
13:16
Speaker 3: and domestic supply chain management for the EGYA systems worldwide.
13:21
Speaker 1: And so that was Lockheed had the contract with the
13:24
Speaker 1: government to deliver those systems. You were actually overseeing those
13:30
Speaker 1: systems being installed on ships and stuff like that. And
13:33
Speaker 1: then you came out and then went to work for Lockey.
13:36
Speaker 1: What easy transition for Lockey.
13:39
Speaker 3: Well, it was an interesting It was an interesting transition.
13:43
Speaker 3: I went to work and replaced people that I had
13:46
Speaker 3: worked with. Oh wow, so they were somewhat older than
13:49
Speaker 3: I was. So I was the next generation of what
13:53
Speaker 3: we call sustainment and logistics support, developing the training courses
13:58
Speaker 3: and doing the spare parts repair and distribution. It was very,
14:04
Speaker 3: very exciting work.
14:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, are those systems still in place today?
14:06
Speaker 3: And those systems are still in place today. We commissioned
14:12
Speaker 3: the first EEGIS cruiser USS tae Kwonderoga in nineteen eighty three,
14:18
Speaker 3: and we are then the first destroyer in nineteen ninety one,
14:27
Speaker 3: whole number fifty one, and now we are up at
14:30
Speaker 3: the whole numbers one hundred and forty something. So I
14:35
Speaker 3: would say we never expected. I never expected, and I
14:38
Speaker 3: would say my contemporaries of the time never expected to
14:42
Speaker 3: still be putting those ships to see thirty years later.
14:46
Speaker 2: Interesting, amazing.
14:49
Speaker 1: So one of the things I wanted to talk about
14:51
Speaker 1: with you today was, you know, the veterans that experienced
14:54
Speaker 1: PTSD and that you know six to seven percent of
14:58
Speaker 1: entrance are experiencing that translates roughly to fourteen thousand to
15:02
Speaker 1: fifteen thousand veterans in San Diego County alone that are
15:06
Speaker 1: experiencing it. For many veterans that transition to civil life,
15:11
Speaker 1: civilian life can feel unstructured or isolated. What we hear
15:15
Speaker 1: from our courage to call program. What helped you regain
15:18
Speaker 1: a sense of purpose after leaving the Navy? Well, you know,
15:22
Speaker 1: it's very interesting. I never felt that I was suffering
15:27
Speaker 1: from PTSD until I stopped working. Interesting then I realized
15:33
Speaker 1: that I had been, I would say, hiding from myself
15:39
Speaker 1: the effects of PTSD.
15:41
Speaker 3: I was ignoring the dreams, I was ignoring the nightmares.
15:44
Speaker 3: I was ignoring the lack of sleep, attributing that to
15:48
Speaker 3: my work. But when I stopped working and those things
15:52
Speaker 3: didn't stop, it became obvious that something had been going
15:57
Speaker 3: on for fifty years.
16:00
Speaker 2: Wow.
16:01
Speaker 3: And a primary care doctor at the Veterans Administration looked
16:10
Speaker 3: right through my pretense and said that I needed to
16:13
Speaker 3: talk to a clinician about what was going on. And
16:18
Speaker 3: it was clear after one or two discussions that I
16:21
Speaker 3: had been denying, hiding the impacts of combat all my life, like.
16:29
Speaker 1: You said earlier, sending the guys out on their own
16:32
Speaker 1: on the river boats.
16:34
Speaker 3: Right, Well, yes, I would say, just ignoring what I
16:38
Speaker 3: had done and what it had meant to me and
16:41
Speaker 3: what it had done to me. And it was only
16:44
Speaker 3: after about a year's worth of work with a clinician
16:50
Speaker 3: and a couple of medications which are interesting. Neither one
16:54
Speaker 3: of them has a primary diagnosis of treating PTSD, but
17:01
Speaker 3: what they do overcomes the PTSD. I was within a
17:07
Speaker 3: matter of a month after starting the medication, the dreams
17:13
Speaker 3: went away, the nightmares went away. I thought more clearly
17:18
Speaker 3: about my life, and I was really privileged. So the
17:22
Speaker 3: challenge was acknowledging the fact that you are suffering. That
17:28
Speaker 3: you know, pretending that you're not leaves you thinking that
17:32
Speaker 3: everything's okay, right. And yet when you talk to these
17:36
Speaker 3: veterans who are talking about the complexity of transition, I
17:42
Speaker 3: would challenge that they're not admitting what they ran into
17:45
Speaker 3: during their time in service.
17:47
Speaker 2: Interesting.
17:47
Speaker 1: Interesting, And I think you've spent some time with Christina,
17:52
Speaker 1: our program manager. Did you share that experience with Christina
17:55
Speaker 1: because she experiences some of what you're talking about in
17:59
Speaker 1: the clients that she serves every day.
18:01
Speaker 3: I did. I talked to Christina a lot because for
18:04
Speaker 3: a lot of reasons, we have some ships in common.
18:08
Speaker 3: And what our discussion was is you have to admit it.
18:13
Speaker 3: If you were unwilling to acknowledge that you have a problem,
18:17
Speaker 3: then that problem is going to grate on you in
18:20
Speaker 3: a way that is hard to understand. And I was
18:24
Speaker 3: fortunate I had gotten through my time in the Navy, okay,
18:29
Speaker 3: I'd gotten through my time at Lockeed okay. But when
18:33
Speaker 3: I stopped that real work, the impact of PTSD became
18:38
Speaker 3: more evident. But it was another seven or eight years
18:42
Speaker 3: before the VA gave me that PTSD diagnosis and convinced
18:49
Speaker 3: me to get treatment for it.
18:50
Speaker 1: Was that here in Sandy, and that was here in
18:52
Speaker 1: Sandy well at the VA right up in La Joya.
18:54
Speaker 2: Yeah.
18:55
Speaker 3: So I encourage veterans that I talked to, particularly those
19:01
Speaker 3: that are having problems, to acknowledge that they're having the problems,
19:06
Speaker 3: to talk to the VA about it, and to get
19:09
Speaker 3: themselves into some level of counseling.
19:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems I was.
19:14
Speaker 1: I was really surprised that the number was as low
19:18
Speaker 1: as fourteen thousand to fifteen thousand. Cis because when I
19:23
Speaker 1: think about PTSD and the Golf Wars, for one, and
19:27
Speaker 1: the amount of people coming home from the Gulf Wars,
19:30
Speaker 1: and that that's when it seemed to become more prevalent
19:35
Speaker 1: in our in our society, was from those wars, and
19:38
Speaker 1: not necessarily all the way back to the Vietnam war
19:42
Speaker 1: and Sony anything to explain.
19:45
Speaker 3: I would tell you that we have had what is
19:48
Speaker 3: now called PTSD in every combat that has ever happened
19:54
Speaker 3: in the world. We just haven't called it that. We
19:57
Speaker 3: haven't we didn't recognize it. We called it battle fatigue,
20:01
Speaker 3: we called that, you know it, We had lots of
20:04
Speaker 3: we had lots of words for it, But in reality,
20:08
Speaker 3: it was the mental anguish that you were suffering from
20:11
Speaker 3: being in combat. And I think that it is only
20:15
Speaker 3: ah and really we didn't recognize it in Vietnam either.
20:20
Speaker 3: It was well after the end of the Vietnam conflict
20:24
Speaker 3: that we began to recognize what our military were suffering from.
20:32
Speaker 3: And it took a long time. It took a long
20:35
Speaker 3: time to acknowledge it. I think if you, if you would,
20:38
Speaker 3: and I will say that that percentage that you see,
20:43
Speaker 3: it's the percentage of those who acknowledge it a lot
20:47
Speaker 3: more so there's a lot more out there where it's
20:50
Speaker 3: not acknowledged, and it leads to a lot of the homelessness,
20:55
Speaker 3: a lot of the family issues that we have within
20:59
Speaker 3: our active duty and veteran community.
21:04
Speaker 2: Yeah.
21:04
Speaker 1: Interesting, it was shared with me that you participated in
21:09
Speaker 1: the honor flight. Can you share what that experience was
21:14
Speaker 1: like for you.
21:15
Speaker 3: So you know, for people who don't know what Honor
21:18
Speaker 3: Flight is. Honor Flight is a program all over the country. Yeah,
21:23
Speaker 3: where we fly started to fly World War Two veterans
21:28
Speaker 3: back to Washington, d C. For a day at looking
21:31
Speaker 3: at the monuments and memorials back there. That program has
21:35
Speaker 3: expanded to cover Korean War veterans and now Vietnam era
21:40
Speaker 3: veterans as we have really are reaching the end of
21:45
Speaker 3: the numbers of World War Two and Korean War veterans
21:51
Speaker 3: that we have, and it takes the veterans all expenses
21:55
Speaker 3: paid for one full day of going around and seeing
22:01
Speaker 3: the Marine Memorial and the Air Force Memorial, and the
22:07
Speaker 3: Army Army memorials at the World War Two Memorial, the
22:13
Speaker 3: Korean War Memorial. Really a very very busy day, but
22:20
Speaker 3: one in which you really get to think about what
22:25
Speaker 3: you've been through. I started off as a volunteer of
22:28
Speaker 3: the program. I was on the list of if you
22:31
Speaker 3: need a guardian to escort, somebody, give me a call.
22:36
Speaker 3: I got a late call to go with a Korean
22:38
Speaker 3: War veteran. It was a great trip back. I enjoyed it.
22:43
Speaker 3: He enjoyed it. He met other Vietnam era veterans excuse me,
22:49
Speaker 3: Korean War veterans. It was really a very good trip.
22:52
Speaker 3: And when I got back here, I said, I'm done.
22:54
Speaker 3: I don't need to go again. And I came under
22:58
Speaker 3: an interesting pressure from my friend in the in the
23:03
Speaker 3: honor flight program to go, and I was able. My son,
23:09
Speaker 3: who is active duty here in San Diego, was able
23:12
Speaker 3: to get time off and go as my guardian escort.
23:16
Speaker 3: And that was part of the of the beginning to
23:22
Speaker 3: really acknowledge the PTSD that I had. I talked to
23:27
Speaker 3: him about more things on that trip than I had
23:31
Speaker 3: in his thirty five years of life before that.
23:35
Speaker 2: Wow.
23:36
Speaker 3: So it really turned out to enable me to acknowledge
23:41
Speaker 3: more of the problems that I had than I ever
23:44
Speaker 3: had in the past.
23:46
Speaker 2: Was that and your son went with you?
23:48
Speaker 1: Was that most of the experience of the other individuals
23:51
Speaker 1: that were on the outer flight.
23:52
Speaker 3: Well, well, it's really amazing. I mean, you come back
23:57
Speaker 3: and it's it's really life changing. We've had veterans come
24:02
Speaker 3: back and say, well, I was really planning on taking
24:05
Speaker 3: my life, but this has pointed out to me that
24:08
Speaker 3: there is more that I can do. So it's really
24:12
Speaker 3: it's life changing in many many instances, and we're proud
24:17
Speaker 3: the San Diego on our flight group is very proud
24:20
Speaker 3: of the work that they get done.
24:21
Speaker 2: You know, Holly runs that group down here.
24:23
Speaker 3: Well, Holly's she's the communications person and she's the front
24:29
Speaker 3: end of that organization.
24:30
Speaker 2: She does a great job.
24:32
Speaker 1: So, you know, just a little experience for myself, nothing
24:36
Speaker 1: like you've experienced.
24:37
Speaker 2: But I was in Washington, d C.
24:39
Speaker 1: Just about this time a year ago, and I flew
24:41
Speaker 1: in early because I was back there for meeting with
24:44
Speaker 1: our elected officials who represent San Diego County and our area.
24:49
Speaker 1: And I got the afternoon on Sunday afternoon to go
24:52
Speaker 1: tour all those memorials that you talk about, And boy
24:57
Speaker 1: is it's just moving when you're on that mall and
25:00
Speaker 1: you walk around the mall and you hit the different monuments,
25:03
Speaker 1: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln and all that, and the
25:07
Speaker 1: war memorials, they're the one for World War two and stuff.
25:10
Speaker 2: Because I don't think, I don't know.
25:11
Speaker 1: If my dad ever got to do something like an
25:14
Speaker 1: honor flight. He was a World War two Navy pilot,
25:17
Speaker 1: and it's just tremendous what.
25:22
Speaker 2: Happens back there.
25:23
Speaker 1: I mean, there's just when you're in the nation's capital
25:26
Speaker 1: with everything that's happening, it just brings up so much
25:31
Speaker 1: about how great our country is and how lucky we
25:34
Speaker 1: are to be in the United States of America. At
25:37
Speaker 1: least that was my experience when I spent the afternoon
25:40
Speaker 1: walking them all and walking the memorials and reading about.
25:44
Speaker 2: Because they.
25:46
Speaker 1: Just everything that they had, all the plaques around and
25:49
Speaker 1: the sacrifice, the sacrifice and all those.
25:52
Speaker 2: Different world wars.
25:53
Speaker 1: So we're going to continue this conversation in just a
25:58
Speaker 1: moment because it's been a powerful one. But before we
26:01
Speaker 1: do that, it's time for a brief where we highlight
26:04
Speaker 1: current events that are shaping behavior, health and our community.
26:08
Speaker 2: And one of what.
26:09
Speaker 1: We're going to highlight today is that California continues to
26:14
Speaker 1: lose military retirees, with a population declining more than twenty
26:19
Speaker 1: seven percent since two thousand. One of the contributing factors
26:23
Speaker 1: to that is that California remains among the few states
26:26
Speaker 1: that's still tax military retirement pay why most other states,
26:31
Speaker 1: I think thirty eight of them do not. And so
26:35
Speaker 1: what I'm highlighting today on the brief is Senate Bill
26:37
Speaker 1: fourteen oh seven, which has been put in place by
26:41
Speaker 1: sd MAC and Admiral Boone retired Admiral Boone over there,
26:48
Speaker 1: and they're proposing this bill to be a full state
26:51
Speaker 1: tax exemption on military retirement play, which is going to
26:55
Speaker 1: help veterans remaining in California because it's so expensive, the
26:59
Speaker 1: cost of living in it, everything, And I really believe
27:01
Speaker 1: that policies like this matter for the economic stability and
27:06
Speaker 1: directly affecting housing, insecurity, stress levels, and family well being
27:11
Speaker 1: and especially during life transitions. So for our audience today,
27:16
Speaker 1: you can go out to sd Max's website and there's
27:20
Speaker 1: more information out there about the bills. Senate Bill fourteen
27:24
Speaker 1: oh seven. Do you have any comment on seven fourteen
27:26
Speaker 1: oh seven? Did you know that this bill was existing
27:30
Speaker 1: and getting ready to be pushed and being pushed. We,
27:33
Speaker 1: in fact, John who was here earlier, and I and
27:37
Speaker 1: another Jessica who's here today, we attended the press briefing
27:41
Speaker 1: for that on the Midway and it was very very good.
27:44
Speaker 3: So well, California has finally, I would say, come out
27:49
Speaker 3: of the dark ages with respect to military retired pay.
27:53
Speaker 3: And now the first twenty thousand dollars of your military
27:57
Speaker 3: retired pay is now catch exempt I know they keep
28:02
Speaker 3: talking about how big the loss is if they would
28:06
Speaker 3: tax exempt the rest, but the truth is it wouldn't
28:10
Speaker 3: be that much in terms of overall loss and more
28:14
Speaker 3: than make up for it by the people that they
28:16
Speaker 3: would keep in the state. So I think it would
28:18
Speaker 3: be a value add for the state of California to
28:21
Speaker 3: think more about the veterans. You know, San Diego County
28:25
Speaker 3: three hundred and fifty thousand veterans and families living in
28:27
Speaker 3: San Diego County. We want to keep those people here.
28:32
Speaker 3: We want to help them live here in a place
28:35
Speaker 3: where the cost of living is high, and giving them
28:39
Speaker 3: a tax exemption on the rest of their retirement, yeah,
28:42
Speaker 3: would be really dramatic impacts.
28:44
Speaker 2: The whole state.
28:45
Speaker 1: I mean, we have military up in San Francisco and
28:48
Speaker 1: basis throughout California, and we do a lot of work
28:52
Speaker 1: our company does in the Central Valley, we run into veterans, yes,
28:55
Speaker 1: and so thank you for that. And now a brief
29:00
Speaker 1: word from Turn Behavioral Health Services and we'll be right
29:03
Speaker 1: back with our audience in just a minute.
29:05
Speaker 4: Improving lives every day and in every way for Californians.
29:10
Speaker 4: This is the mission of Turn Behavioral Health Services by
29:14
Speaker 4: focusing on wellness, recovery, and resilience. TURN is helping create
29:18
Speaker 4: lasting change, especially for our military community. If your active
29:23
Speaker 4: duty of veteran reservists, regardless of military status, or part
29:29
Speaker 4: of a military family in San Diego.
29:31
Speaker 2: Support is here.
29:33
Speaker 4: Courage to Call is a free confidential helpline staffed by
29:37
Speaker 4: veterans who understand military life. From eight am to eight pm.
29:42
Speaker 4: You can connect with peer to peer specialists who are
29:44
Speaker 4: ready to listen, guide, and help on the very first call.
29:48
Speaker 4: Struggling with mental health, food, insecurity, finances, housing, You don't
29:55
Speaker 4: have to face it alone. Call eight seven seven six
29:57
Speaker 4: ninety eight seven eight three eight. That's a eight seventy
30:00
Speaker 4: seven six' nine eight seven eight three. Eight courage To
30:04
Speaker 4: call will answer your. Call courage To call is a
30:07
Speaker 4: program OF turn behavioral health, services improving lives every day
30:11
Speaker 4: in every.
30:11
Speaker 5: Way marsh Mcclinnan, agency a business Of, marsh is a
30:17
Speaker 5: provider of business, insurance employee health and, benefits retirement and
30:22
Speaker 5: wealth and private client insurance solutions across THE us And,
30:26
Speaker 5: canada with several locations across Southern.
30:29
Speaker 6: California to learn more About, marsh a trusted advisor around
30:34
Speaker 6: the world with expertise in risk strategy and people please
30:39
Speaker 6: visit marsh dot.
30:40
Speaker 2: Com welcome back to The Behavioral Health.
30:44
Speaker 1: Brief I'm Jim callahan and we're continuing a great conversation With,
30:48
Speaker 1: sheldon RETIRED Us navy captain whose service has continued long after.
30:53
Speaker 2: Thirty years in.
30:54
Speaker 1: Uniform let's pick up where we left. Off, sheldon AND
30:58
Speaker 1: i wondered if you could talk about the, military and
31:02
Speaker 1: the military is like a family. Business it seems you,
31:06
Speaker 1: know your grandfather may have, served you've, served your son's now.
31:11
Speaker 2: Serving can you share some of.
31:12
Speaker 3: That the military has changed over. Years you, know for
31:18
Speaker 3: many years we had a. Draft it meant that people
31:21
Speaker 3: that were serving came from all over the. Country more and,
31:27
Speaker 3: more the military is becoming almost a family. Business it's become.
31:31
Speaker 3: Generational you, know you talk about the one percent who. Serves,
31:35
Speaker 3: yeah if you look into that one, percent you'll find
31:38
Speaker 3: a significant portion our second and third generational people who are.
31:43
Speaker 3: Serving in some, ways that's not. Good it's not good
31:50
Speaker 3: for the. Country it doesn't give us that broad experience
31:53
Speaker 3: that we always used to. Have is slowly becoming almost
31:57
Speaker 3: almost an instantitutional change to what our military service is.
32:05
Speaker 3: Like SO i would like to SEE i know that
32:08
Speaker 3: people will come after. ME i would like to see
32:11
Speaker 3: the draft come. BACK i would like to see more
32:14
Speaker 3: people having to. SERVE i would like to see our
32:17
Speaker 3: country be like Other first world countries who require everyone
32:24
Speaker 3: to serve the country in some ways for a couple of.
32:28
Speaker 3: Years you, know there are organizations in our country where
32:32
Speaker 3: you come out of high school and you do a
32:34
Speaker 3: two year mission of some. KIND i think we need
32:37
Speaker 3: to start doing. THAT i think people need to see
32:40
Speaker 3: the benefits that the country brings to, them so they
32:44
Speaker 3: better understand what their purpose and what their place is
32:49
Speaker 3: As america continues.
32:50
Speaker 1: To grow and be in service for whatever it is
32:53
Speaker 1: for the two, years right or four years whatever they're
32:56
Speaker 1: going to do some countries or two some countries are four.
33:00
Speaker 3: Not necessarily military. Service there are wonderful things that this
33:04
Speaker 3: country could use you to. Do, yes and that's what
33:08
Speaker 3: that's what we need to see. Happen and maybe if
33:11
Speaker 3: you established a two year break between high school and, college,
33:15
Speaker 3: yeah people would decide interesting if they wanted to go
33:19
Speaker 3: to college or if they wanted to go to, industry
33:22
Speaker 3: what they wanted to. Do SO i think there's a
33:26
Speaker 3: great benefit to service to your, country particularly a great
33:32
Speaker 3: democracy like we have.
33:34
Speaker 2: Here.
33:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, interesting how about can you share with us how
33:37
Speaker 1: proud were you when your son?
33:39
Speaker 3: Joined, well, so you, know we talked briefly About i'm
33:43
Speaker 3: going in for four years And i'm going to get.
33:45
Speaker 2: Out.
33:45
Speaker 3: Yeah my son, Said, OKAY i don't want to do,
33:48
Speaker 3: this But i'll go in for four years and Then
33:51
Speaker 3: i'll get. Out and now sixteen years later he's headed
33:56
Speaker 3: to command of A. Ddg so great pride in in
34:00
Speaker 3: what he has decided to do and also in watching
34:05
Speaker 3: him do much better THAN i ever. Did so it's
34:10
Speaker 3: a real privilege to watch how he is progressing in
34:13
Speaker 3: the service.
34:14
Speaker 2: Today. Interesting interesting.
34:18
Speaker 1: Are you familiar with Our Turns courage To call program
34:21
Speaker 1: and why does it resonate with you?
34:23
Speaker 3: Personally so years AGO i became familiar With courage To.
34:29
Speaker 3: CALL i worked with the former leaders of the. ORGANIZATION
34:36
Speaker 3: i loved. It it really is a benefit to veterans
34:43
Speaker 3: and to active duty really in our. COMMUNITY i first
34:49
Speaker 3: really supported it because it was a mental health. Opportunity
34:53
Speaker 3: that was BEFORE i knew all the other things that it.
34:55
Speaker 3: Did So courage To call is a terrific, program particularly
35:00
Speaker 3: in a community Like San. Diego county and surrounds where
35:05
Speaker 3: there are so many, military all of whom need. Help you,
35:09
Speaker 3: know it's an expensive place to. Live it is encouraged to.
35:12
Speaker 3: Call not only gives them a mental health, opportunities it
35:16
Speaker 3: also gives them a food opportunities and clothing. Opportunities and
35:20
Speaker 3: it's an organization that we as a community ought to
35:24
Speaker 3: make sure we don't.
35:25
Speaker 2: Lose we aren't going to lose.
35:26
Speaker 1: THAT i don't know IF i shared with you the other,
35:29
Speaker 1: day but we lost our funding with The county Of
35:34
Speaker 1: San diego seventeen years they funded. Us WHEN i got the,
35:37
Speaker 1: LETTER i was really. UPSET i, said how can you
35:40
Speaker 1: do this to our veterans in our active military In
35:44
Speaker 1: San Diego, county a military. Town i'm thankful for all
35:47
Speaker 1: the years of. Funding but we put together a campaign
35:52
Speaker 1: to go out there and raise funds for A courage To,
35:56
Speaker 1: call and we've just received in the last probably ten,
35:59
Speaker 1: days five hundred thousand dollars match grand and we're really
36:03
Speaker 1: excited about. That the donor wants to remain, anonymous but
36:07
Speaker 1: that's opened the door for us now and so we're
36:10
Speaker 1: going to be able To AND i was in discussions
36:14
Speaker 1: with one of the supervisor's office just recently this week
36:18
Speaker 1: called me and, said tell me the exact number that
36:23
Speaker 1: you need to Fund courage To, call because we're working
36:25
Speaker 1: with the county right now to try to get some
36:27
Speaker 1: money set aside for next. Year AND i said one
36:31
Speaker 1: point four to five. Million it's actually one point four nine,
36:34
Speaker 1: million SO i missed it by a few hundred. Thousand
36:37
Speaker 1: but we're hopeful that we're going to get some money
36:40
Speaker 1: out of the, county even after they've said they're.
36:42
Speaker 2: Not going to fund.
36:43
Speaker 1: Us but we're really putting a push out there for
36:48
Speaker 1: to raise money For courage To call and keep that program.
36:51
Speaker 2: Going we're not.
36:51
Speaker 1: Closing there's been talk out there about us closing On june.
36:55
Speaker 2: Thirtieth we are not. Closing we have.
36:57
Speaker 1: Enough funding now to take us through the end of
36:59
Speaker 1: the current calendar, year.
37:01
Speaker 2: AND i know we'll be able to grow. That So
37:03
Speaker 2: i'm excited about.
37:03
Speaker 3: That, YEAH i would encourage folks that if you're looking
37:08
Speaker 3: for a place to, give give To courage To. Call
37:11
Speaker 3: it really. Is it's one of those organizations that literally
37:17
Speaker 3: helps you get inside your own, mind helps you move,
37:21
Speaker 3: forward helps you and your. Family so While i'm not
37:24
Speaker 3: a big guy asking for. Money, yeah courage to call
37:29
Speaker 3: is one of those things THAT i personally support who
37:32
Speaker 3: think is.
37:33
Speaker 2: Important thank you for.
37:34
Speaker 1: THAT i feel the same way just about courage to
37:39
Speaker 1: call from What i've seen that they can, do WHICH
37:41
Speaker 1: i think the key thing is they're peer to. Peer
37:44
Speaker 1: they're actually veterans, Themselves christina who runs at twelve years
37:48
Speaker 1: in The, navy and so they know how to help
37:52
Speaker 1: people that are because they've experienced it themselves in some,
37:56
Speaker 1: way shape or.
37:57
Speaker 2: Form so thank you for.
37:58
Speaker 1: That so maybe now we talked a little bit at the.
38:00
Speaker 1: Break where is your favorite place In San?
38:02
Speaker 3: Diego so my favorite place In San diego is The
38:06
Speaker 3: Mount Sola Dead. Memorial oh there you.
38:09
Speaker 1: Go.
38:09
Speaker 3: Beautiful so you have two things that make it. Terrific,
38:14
Speaker 3: one you have great. Views you see all Of San
38:17
Speaker 3: diego from one, end from the north to the. South
38:23
Speaker 3: but the plaques that are up there really tell a
38:26
Speaker 3: lot of. Stories and most folks go up there and
38:29
Speaker 3: they read the plaques and they're. SATISFIED i use my
38:35
Speaker 3: phone to look up the plaques because every plaque has
38:38
Speaker 3: a story behind, it and if you don't take the
38:41
Speaker 3: time to read the, stories you really are missing. Something,
38:44
Speaker 3: yeah the plaques are. NICE i have a plaque up.
38:47
Speaker 2: There it's.
38:48
Speaker 3: Nice it talks about you got three lesions of. Merit
38:52
Speaker 3: but the reality is the stories behind the, plaques and
38:56
Speaker 3: that's what just you go up there AND i go
39:00
Speaker 3: up there in the middle of the week when there's
39:02
Speaker 3: no visitors and you can sit and park and really,
39:09
Speaker 3: talked talk to your friends that are up, there most,
39:14
Speaker 3: living some already passed away because of how long that
39:19
Speaker 3: monument's been, here that memorial has been. Here but it's terrific.
39:22
Speaker 3: Place they do great things in the, community and for,
39:25
Speaker 3: me it really is a place when it's quiet that
39:30
Speaker 3: you can really talk to. Yourself SO i enjoy. IT i,
39:34
Speaker 3: mean there's lots of places In San Diego, county but
39:36
Speaker 3: the truth Is Mount solidad is a unique, spot and
39:43
Speaker 3: you ought to when you go up, there bring your
39:45
Speaker 3: phone with you and look up each of those names
39:48
Speaker 3: and read the. Backstories.
39:50
Speaker 1: INTERESTING i didn't know you could do that so well
39:52
Speaker 1: with technology, now, right you could just about get in
39:55
Speaker 1: and oh have.
39:55
Speaker 3: Backstories, yeah it's really very.
39:57
Speaker 1: Interesting would you like to share about your and children at?
40:00
Speaker 1: All you have heard a couple of times mentioned your.
40:02
Speaker 1: Grandchildren i'm my.
40:03
Speaker 3: Grandkids when we moved out here in two thousand and.
40:09
Speaker 3: Six my son was just entering college and my daughter
40:15
Speaker 3: was teaching high school In Center, City. Baltimore and my
40:22
Speaker 3: son graduated from college and got The navy to son
40:25
Speaker 3: them out, here and my daughter looked around and, said
40:28
Speaker 3: what the heck's going? On why are you all out?
40:31
Speaker 3: There always, said, really you were born out. Here you
40:34
Speaker 3: don't have to ask that. Question and she came out
40:36
Speaker 3: and joined. Us so both my son and daughter live
40:40
Speaker 3: out here. There they have my daughter has a seventeen
40:43
Speaker 3: year old and a six year, old and my son
40:45
Speaker 3: has a two year old and a four month. Old
40:50
Speaker 3: and my son and daughter in law are both active
40:52
Speaker 3: Duty navy, commanders so they're busy all the. Time so
40:56
Speaker 3: we get a lot of the. Grandkids it's all.
40:58
Speaker 2: Good that's. Nice that's.
41:01
Speaker 1: Nice so now opportunity for community. QUESTIONS i like this
41:08
Speaker 1: point in our behavioral brief. Today so we're staying true
41:14
Speaker 1: to improving, lives and we have some. Questions you can
41:17
Speaker 1: pick one out of the cup.
41:18
Speaker 3: Here DO i have to be able to answer?
41:21
Speaker 2: This, oh that'd be. Helpful let's.
41:24
Speaker 3: See the question comes from a fellow, Veteran justin And
41:28
Speaker 3: Chula Vista, Sheldon you've served both in uniform and in
41:32
Speaker 3: the community for. Decades what has motivated you to help
41:37
Speaker 3: to keep showing up for veterans even after retiring from The. Navy,
41:43
Speaker 3: well you, Know i've been blessed with my, time really
41:49
Speaker 3: great time in the, service great time working For Lockeing,
41:51
Speaker 3: morton great time running The Veterans, museum but also learning
42:01
Speaker 3: what is happening to, veterans having been through it, myself
42:06
Speaker 3: having seen the difficulties that veterans can, face from those
42:13
Speaker 3: that are hanging in there in business to those that
42:17
Speaker 3: are homeless on the. Streets so WHATEVER i can, do it's.
42:22
Speaker 3: Important it's important that we as a community recognize that
42:27
Speaker 3: service impacts how you, think it impacts your mental, attitude
42:34
Speaker 3: your mental, processes and your. Health and if we as
42:40
Speaker 3: a community as a country don't take care of our,
42:42
Speaker 3: veterans who's going to take care of?
42:45
Speaker 2: Us, yeah. Exactly so.
42:49
Speaker 3: When someone thanks me for my, service it's important for
42:53
Speaker 3: me to come back and remind them that they are
42:56
Speaker 3: the ones who are part of a country that makes
42:59
Speaker 3: me proud to. Serve so that's my.
43:02
Speaker 1: Job, Great let's see what question number two holds for.
43:06
Speaker 1: Us melanie From San marcos, asked from your, perspective what
43:12
Speaker 1: a veterans sometimes need the most but are least.
43:16
Speaker 2: Likely to ask.
43:17
Speaker 3: For i'm going to say two, Things okay to. Me
43:24
Speaker 3: the obvious is mental. Health we pretend that we don't need.
43:30
Speaker 3: It i'm a member of The Vietnam veterans Of America
43:35
Speaker 3: post here In San, diego AND i talk to my
43:39
Speaker 3: fellow veterans, there and it is clear that many of
43:44
Speaker 3: them are in. Denial as hard AS i work to
43:49
Speaker 3: convince them that they need to talk about what's going
43:52
Speaker 3: on and get a clinician and try and help, themselves
43:57
Speaker 3: they are LIKE i was forty and fifty, years denying
44:02
Speaker 3: that there are any. Problems so that's the, veterans and
44:09
Speaker 3: then the active duty community are afraid that if they
44:16
Speaker 3: ask for, help it will get back to their seniors
44:20
Speaker 3: and they will no longer be looked upon in a
44:26
Speaker 3: positive light within the. Service so you have those, problems
44:30
Speaker 3: whether it's for the active, duty whether it's financial or,
44:34
Speaker 3: mental is an unwillingness to ask for help because they
44:38
Speaker 3: don't want it to get back to their. Bosses.
44:40
Speaker 1: Right that's one of the key things For courage to
44:42
Speaker 1: call is that we don't. Do when they active duty
44:45
Speaker 1: come and ask for, help we serve, them but we don't.
44:47
Speaker 1: Report so that really helps the active. Military it's really, Key,
44:52
Speaker 1: yeah really. Key it's too bad that active military looks
44:56
Speaker 1: on it so disparaging me that somebody has asked for
44:59
Speaker 1: help because you see it after the. Fact, well while
45:03
Speaker 1: they're in it could stin me their career if they.
45:06
Speaker 2: Asked, well you.
45:09
Speaker 3: Have people within the service who are, senior who are in,
45:14
Speaker 3: denial who when someone who is junior to them comes
45:18
Speaker 3: up and SAYS i have a, problem their denial precludes
45:22
Speaker 3: them from recognizing that it really is something that needs
45:26
Speaker 3: to be dealt. With.
45:27
Speaker 2: Interesting interesting that you mentioned it that, Way, yes.
45:31
Speaker 3: Sir.
45:32
Speaker 2: Interesting, well here the last question in the cup for you.
45:35
Speaker 3: Today you know we've done two for three or you're
45:39
Speaker 3: sure we want to try?
45:39
Speaker 2: Three, yeah three for. Three if you could offer.
45:44
Speaker 3: One piece of advice to veterans or families listing today
45:48
Speaker 3: who may be struggling, quietly what would you want them
45:51
Speaker 3: to know.
45:54
Speaker 2: Speak.
45:54
Speaker 3: UP i know there's a, risk there's that possible ability
46:00
Speaker 3: that the seniors that you're dealing with won't. Understand but
46:06
Speaker 3: you can't hurt yourself by not speaking up and if
46:10
Speaker 3: you want to do it in a manner that isn't
46:15
Speaker 3: open to the. Service there are, organizations whether It's courage To,
46:20
Speaker 3: call whether IT'S, step there are many organizations here In
46:25
Speaker 3: San diego who will help you and not report the
46:29
Speaker 3: issues to your. Bosses come ask for, help don't pretend
46:36
Speaker 3: it's not a good way to go. Forward AND i
46:38
Speaker 3: speak from having hidden it from myself for forty or fifty.
46:42
Speaker 2: Years thank you for.
46:43
Speaker 1: That you don't wanted to back up a minute and
46:45
Speaker 1: just say that you mentioned you had reached out To
46:48
Speaker 1: courage To. Call we recently presented at The San Diego
46:52
Speaker 1: veterans not The, coalition but The Counties San Diego Veterans,
46:56
Speaker 1: group and three out of the four people that are
46:59
Speaker 1: on that group Use courage To call when they first
47:02
Speaker 1: got out of the. Military and that you, Know courage
47:06
Speaker 1: To call started in a telephone closet AT vvsd down
47:09
Speaker 1: In San diego and it was run By Ron. STARK
47:12
Speaker 1: i think you might Know Ron, stark and so it's
47:16
Speaker 1: really grown into something great for our. Community so, Well,
47:21
Speaker 1: sheldon thank you for your service and your leadership and
47:24
Speaker 1: your vulnerability that you shared today is truly, Amazing and
47:28
Speaker 1: before we, close is there anything you'd like to leave
47:31
Speaker 1: with our audience and listeners, Today whether that's a, reflection a,
47:35
Speaker 1: resource or a call to.
47:36
Speaker 2: Action you sort of.
47:38
Speaker 1: Just answered that in the last, Question but is there
47:40
Speaker 1: anything else that you'd like to leave for our audience.
47:43
Speaker 2: Today, first.
47:47
Speaker 3: Veterans need, Help.
47:49
Speaker 2: Active duty needs.
47:50
Speaker 3: Help don't be afraid to, contribute and for active duty and,
47:57
Speaker 3: veterans don't be afraid to speak. Up you're doing yourself
48:01
Speaker 3: more harm than.
48:02
Speaker 2: Good thank you for.
48:04
Speaker 3: That it's.
48:05
Speaker 1: Terrific as we close today's, EPISODE i want to pause
48:10
Speaker 1: and practice something essential to well being and, perspective and that's.
48:15
Speaker 2: Gratitude i'm grateful FOR.
48:17
Speaker 1: Turns courage To call program and for the veteran and
48:20
Speaker 1: veteran family staff who lead. It they meet people where
48:24
Speaker 1: they are without stigma and connect veterans and families to
48:29
Speaker 1: life stabilizing. Support special appreciation to our donor for a
48:35
Speaker 1: five hundred thousand dollars match investment to help Substain courage
48:39
Speaker 1: To call as county funding concluded concludes later this, year
48:45
Speaker 1: and strengthening Our Keep Courage alive. Campaign i'm also deeply
48:51
Speaker 1: thankful for turn seventeen year partnership with The county Of San,
48:54
Speaker 1: diego which helped build this lifeline for veterans in their.
48:58
Speaker 1: Families to our, listeners thank you for spending time with us.
49:03
Speaker 2: Today please, like, share and.
49:06
Speaker 1: Subscribe and AS i, Close i'll answer the QUESTION i opened.
49:11
Speaker 2: With there's nothing more.
49:12
Speaker 1: Important than improving, lives and together we are all improving.
49:18
Speaker 2: Lives I'm Jim.
49:20
Speaker 1: Callahan this has been The Behavioral Health.
49:22
Speaker 2: Brief see you next.
49:23
Speaker 3: Time