Veteran suicide prevention work needs 'fundamental change,' says Mission Roll Call — here's how

Taking veteran advocacy to Congress and the White House, Mission Roll Call argues for a holistic, community-based approach to veteran suicide. Executive director Cole Lyle was himself at risk.

He was in the midst of a divorce, was unemployed, wasn't in school — and "felt disconnected from the guys I had served with," he said. "The only thing I can really attribute [it] to is divine intervention, because I was clearer than I had been in a long time." The removal of troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 "exacerbated" the existing mental health issues of many of Lyle's friends.  "[Veterans were] questioning, 'What was it for?' and I could see the writing on the wall." "I was, admittedly, drinking too much. I had a gun, and was about one pound of trigger pull away from shooting myself in the head." Christine Rousselle is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

He perceived that his family did not understand what he was going through, he said. He was coping with post-traumatic stress as well as panic attacks.