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Government

Former Army Captain Raises Military-Suicide Awareness On Cross-Country Harley Tour

Sep. 26, 2012 2:32pm Eddie Scarry

Brian Kinsella

Brian Kinsella never had any suicidal thoughts when he served in the U.S. Army. But he knew people who did and who followed through with them.

“I think going through deployment as a single man who didn’t have a family or children at home, I was in a much different place,” Kinsella told TheBlaze. “I didn’t deal with some things that other soldiers dealt with.”

Kinsella’s experience led him to create Stop Soldier Suicide, a non-profit that aims to raise awareness about suicide in the military and offer mental health counseling to soldiers who need it. On Friday, he’s attempting to further his cause by embarking on a 5,000-mile cross-country trip. It starts in Washington state, ends in New York City and he’s doing the whole thing on a Harley motorcycle.

Through the Stop Soldier Suicide website and social media, Kinsella said he’s seen outpouring of support across the country for his trip. He’s hoping many of the people who have reached out, soldiers and non-soldiers alike, will join him on their own Harleys as he passes through their towns.

The suicide rate is a big concern for the Army. So far in 2012 (through July), there have been 66 confirmed suicides among active-duty Army personnel and 50 more potential suicides that are still being investigated. For all of last year, the Army reported 165 confirmed suicides. Among non-active soldiers, there have been 54 confirmed suicides among Army National Guard and Army Reserve personnel compared with 118 confirmed suicides for all of 2011.

Kinsella, a former captain who served from 2006 to 2010 and now works on Wall Street, says the military “does a great job” raising awareness and making help available to soldiers who need it. But, he said “at the end of the day, given the stigma that’s there, soldiers will hold back from trying to seek help.” He described the stigma as “a general fear that there will be repercussions” for people who seek mental health care.

“I realized that individual command climates are so important,” Kinsella said, “in fostering an environment where you can have soldiers feel comfortable coming forward and talk about things that may lead to suicide: overall life satisfaction, divorce, finding a job outside of the military, substance abuse.”

Stop Soldier Suicide works to end the stigma within the military, but also promotes that there are places outside of government agencies that soldiers can turn to for mental help.

“If someone comes to us and says, ‘I have this suicidal thought and it’s because I can’t get a job,’ we say we’re going to hook you up with someone who can give you the help you need but we’ll also set you up with an organization in your community who can help you find a job,” Kinsella said.

Brian Kinsella

He said he has yet to hear any official support from the White House or Congress but he has been in touch with other government agencies. “What we have received from the Dept. of the Army has been kind of a green light to meet with people, individual units, individual teams across the country,” he said. “The Dept. of Veterans Affairs has been very receptive. We have some very good meetings set up with the V.A. when I travel through D.C.”

As for the tour, Kinsella said the idea of driving across the country was kicked around as a low-cost way to raise awareness. “There’s a huge Harley ridership community in both active and veteran community,” he said. “We wanted to tap into that.”

Kinsella’s tour runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 13. He’ll be on TheBlaze TV’s Wilkow! tonight to share more.

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Comments (29)

ProudArizonan
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:20pm
Thank You for your service. Then to read that the POTUS wants to cut $13B from the military healthcare budget. Get the word out to all military people now. We cannot let this happen to another generation of our service members. We still have thousands of Viet Nam Vets who need help. Many live on the streets because of the disgraceful way they were treated when they came home from the war. I have three nephews currently serving and one who still suffers from the effects of his tour in Iraq. Make budget cuts to all the islamic countries who have no respect for the USA or our people serving overseas.

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Chet Hempstead
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 6:56pm
What do they expect? People who want to live aren’t going to join in the first place.

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Chuck7884
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:29pm
The question is how many of these suicides are drug induced and how many are not.some of those drugs given to patients can induce suicide.until then we need to keep a closer eye on those that are prescribed mind altering drugs.

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- Elena2010
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:39pm
  Aye, there are horror stories of the malaria prophylaxis that makes you crazy.
  
  Does the Army still make the soldiers take it?
  
  Report this comment
- razhunter100
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 6:17pm
  look at the anti depressants and phych drugs…may cause” suicidal thoughts” plus 100+ other things.
  
  Report this comment
- mongastanman
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 6:17pm
  Back in AZcrackiSTAN, I was only taking my pill once a week(instead of about 3 times) because of the effects the other guys were complaining about, bad sleep and going “#2,” until I heard the pill was meant to be taken “after” you were infected. Talk about fixing something that isn’t broke, I just quit taking it. I was always on post, if I got sick, the medics were right there. Oh, and I didn’t get malaria.
  
  Report this comment
- razhunter100
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 6:25pm
  mongastanman,
  welcome back my brother,
  sorry about the bs conditiond and roe’s…
  
  live free , diie well…
  
  Report this comment
Dismayed Veteran
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:23pm
Godspeed Dai-uy.

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jackofall
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:55pm
First time for me to respond, figured this as worthy as any. Just wish you folks the best and here is their web site info, please help them out, I did.
http://www.stopsoldiersuicide.org/

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- razhunter100
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 6:19pm
  also can voluteer at any va hospital…they need peoples.
  
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FREEDOMoverFEAR
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:52pm
LOL a guy rides a Harley across the country and he’s a saint. Ya my last vacation was dedicated to all of the murder victims in the world.

Here’s the facts

People who serve in the military are half as likely to commit suicide as a civilian.

52% of our current returning military are claiming disability most for mental disabilities.

Pretty soon the military will be like the CA Highway Patrol 98% of them claim disability. So basically if you become a CA cop or a serve in the military you need tax payers to take care of you forever after you retire. Good thing the men who served in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam weren’t so soft.

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- truthnstuff
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:20pm
  Exactly right. Society has learned how to become a victim and use any issue to get on the dole. These things have always happened and the only thing now is to make it look like an epidemic and get paid.
  
  Report this comment
AZBabe
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:03pm
Sadly our son was one of these statistics. Our son Sean hung himself in his barracks room on July 28th of this year at Ft. Stewart, GA.

I applaud this man for his efforts as he may save another family the pain and suffering that we have gone through in the past few months.

God Bless him!

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- honor007
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:37pm
  Sorry to hear about your son. I will keep you in my prayers. This guy is doing good things and I hope he inspires more to similar acts of kindness. God Bless You and your Family. Your sons’ service to our Country makes him a true hero. ♥
  
  Report this comment
- CatB
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:44pm
  I am so sorry for your loss …
  
  It is not just in the military .. once again the MSM is not telling the truth about what is going on under the Obama regime …
  
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207089/56-million-suicide-prevention-programme-launched-study-reveals-Americans-lives-die-car-crashes.html
  
  Report this comment
- AvengerK
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:52pm
  My prayers for your family to find peace and for your son as well. Time can temper the pain but it can never erase it completely. The pain that remains is the testament to your love for your child. Be strong and be confident in the knowledge that you will see your child again when your time comes.
  
  God Bless Capt Kinsella.
  
  Report this comment
- Elena2010
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:17pm
  And may God give y’all His strength and comfort in your loss.
  
  Report this comment
- AZBabe
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 7:25pm
  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
  
  Some of the comments I have seen here are truly disturbing.
  
  Report this comment
- ExpertShot
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 9:47pm
  @ AZBABE – I’m so sorry to hear about your son. My husband also committed suicide on Ft. Stewart almost 18 months ago. I would encourage you to become involved with Army Survivor Outreach Services, they’ve been an incredible support system for me. May God bless you & provide you comfort during this time of sorrow – A fellow Gold Star family member.
  
  Report this comment
- AZBabe
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:33am
  @ExpertShot I am also so sorry to hear about your loss. We are involved with survivor outreach and they have been wonderful as you say. I wish I knew how we could get in touch with one another. I would like to ask you some questions. Our son had only been stationed at Ft. Stewart a short time, transferred from Ft. Lewis in Washington state.
  
  God Bless your family, a fellow Gold Star family.
  
  Report this comment
- ExpertShot
  Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:29am
  @Azbabe – You can contact me at Jship1970@yahoo.com this is an e-mail I use for spam/registering for sites such as this.
  
  Report this comment
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:01pm
May God bless your efforts and carry it forth to reach as many of the soldiers who can be; they have given everything for our nation, and the administration has abandoned them willingly.

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- Exrepublisheep
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:15pm
  Blessing/accusation. Very right of you.
  
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:47pm
Don’t do away with yourselves because a socialist failure to provide jobs. If you are going to use your weapon use it on those who deserve it.

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- Armyduderetired
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 3:02pm
  Dude…really? You are feeding Janet incompatano’s secretary of homeland security’s warning that vet’s are potentially terrorists. Please I feel your pain but please think before you post.
  
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john vincent
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:42pm
Good stuff, and a worthy cause. God bless this man, and safe travels. Enjoy the scenery and the people of the USA.
+1

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Elena2010
Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:40pm
Without knowing the love of God (of the Bible), is it any wonder a soul feels hopeless and lost? We divorced God and are now reaping that whirlwind of emptiness.

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- john vincent
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 2:51pm
  cmon elena-
  There are many good people who are afloat on the sea of despondency-christian and other. The believers life is not one without pitfall and error. There are thousands of reasons why some are at the end of a rope, so to speak, and maybe a little compassion from they who make the highest profession may have prevented such a tragic loss.
  
  It may be hard for you to imagine, but its been told (through the pen of they who left this world) that such an action was for the benefit of the living.
  
  Give the guy credit for his effort; he has your attention.
  
  Report this comment
- Elena2010
  Posted on September 26, 2012 at 4:16pm
  John —
  
  I worked suicide prevention while I was in the sea services. I’ve had to “clean up” the emotional devastation after a suicide as well as the emotional “clean up” after an uncompleted attempt. There were many survivors who were unsure and unclear abt God’s infinite love for them. Mostly they tht they were bad people or unforgivable people or unlovable people.
  
  I am acutely aware of the turmoil of a depressed soul.
  
  Report this comment

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