Episode 11: A Spectator's View of the 2024 Boston Marathon

The 128th Boston Marathon took place on April 15, 2024. Your
host, Paul Stroessner was in attendance for both the marathon and
the expo, and this is his report.


This week's 22 Too Many veteran is






David Simpson











“My Cousin David took his own life. A few nights ago,
he became one of the 22 US veterans that commit suicide
daily. I know it was not always this way but it is this
way now. This happens 22 times a day-people feel like I
do starting 22 times a day. He was either the first or
the last of the day. He said goodbye on the last day of
May in the last hour in his time zone. The outcry of
support was overwhelming. People know. This happens too
much. He knew it happened too much.


David became medically disabled. He had PTSD and had
also contracted Lyme disease during his many years in
service. When he returned from service, work within his
community and with his fellow veterans became his
service. Many also remember him from the video below.
He fought for the rights of those four legged soldiers.
Now all the two legged ones need to stand up for him.
Did this have to be? I don’t think so.


To know how to help veterans overcome suicide, one only
needs to know what a veteran who overcame suicide knew.
Andrew Jones with The Ripple Effect – Helping Veterans
and Families HEAL explained how he did just that. He
found words in that dark place that kept him from
taking his own life – familiar words “Hold your
position.” Hold your position, call for support. That
is what a soldier does when he is in trouble. David
didn’t have these words in that dark place. All
military personnel should be given these words upon
their exit into civilian life. If David had orders in
respect to his own life, he would have followed them.


David, if I could have said anything to you on that
last hour in May it would have been hold your position
and call for support. And if I can say anything to the
22 that are starting to die today it is just that: HOLD
YOUR POSITION. Why did you not have these words David
Michael Simpson? I am so sorry. I cannot stop thinking
them now. Hold your position. Call for support.


There are so many people, so many mothers, so many
fathers and brothers, wives, husbands…children who wish
that their loved one had received this order. But
instead these soldiers just come back and die on
American soil from unseen injuries they received in
battle. PTSD is not a permanent thought process and
suicide is not a consistent thought. They need an order
to follow when they think these thoughts. Let’s give it
to them. I ask for your help. All of you. Every single
one of you reading this.
To the 22 veterans today who will face this darkness
alone: Hold your position, call for support. You are an
American life. It is the duty of the government and its
military to protect you. If you are a threat to your
own life, hold your position and call for
support.
But I cannot say “that is an order”. I am a civilian
surrounded by civilians who are watching them all die.
So this is just a Facebook post.
They need an order to pull them back from the chaos. So
give it to them.
David, support was on its way. You just had to hold
your position.”


https://youtu.be/Cnf5QZ0rzzo?si=RGzj8JrMcyM6KSsG


 


Also mentioned The Frontrunner by Brad Fawley


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