By Karen Gleason
On Saturday morning, a group of the community’s military veterans marched to raise awareness of their brothers and sisters who lost the fight for life and chose suicide.
The FOB Del Rio, a veterans service group founded by a group of Del Rio veterans, hosted the walk.
“Today we’re doing a veterans suicide awareness march for the estimated 22 veterans a day who kill themselves in this country. We’re asking our marchers, if they can, to carry packs weighing 22 pounds to commemorate this very tragic statistic,” said Del Rioan James Powell, one of The FOB Del Rio’s co-founders.
The march began and ended at the VFW Post #8552 on East First Street, and organizers invited mental health providers throughout the community to attend and set up tables where they could hand out information about the local services for veterans in the community.
“We’ve got the West Texas Veterans Council, BCFS, the Community Health Improvement Coalition (CHIC), so our veterans are encouraged to reach out to those organizations, and they all have counselors that can help them out,” Powell said.
He and the other event organizers also invited local businesses owned by veterans to set up tables to offer information.
“We initiated this event and want to keep having it; first, to let our local veterans know they’re not alone, and that there’s always someone there to help. It also helps re-establish that camaraderie we had in the military and sparks that energy back into everyone,” he said.
Powell said an estimated 75 to 100 veterans, as well as friends and family members, participated in the march.
The march started at the VFW, moved south on Bedell Avenue, east on Gibbs Street/U.S. Highway 90, then Jap Lowe and Chapman drives back to Bedell and south back to the VFW. The length of the course was about seven miles, Powell said.
Powell served in two branches of the U.S. military for a total of 21 years. He served in the U.S. Army for five years and 17 in the U.S. Navy.
The march began with a ceremony inside the VFW’s community room.
Adrian Bitela, another FOB Del Rio co-founder and the county’s veterans’ service officer, welcomed those attending the march. He urged everyone present to remember why the event was being held.
“One (veteran suicide) is too many. I’m sure we all know someone we’ve lost. I’m going to be walking with a flag with the names of the veterans from our community that I know of who have lost that battle. We want to show that they will never be forgotten,” Bitela said.
Bitela also recited the poem “I Am The Flag,” by Howard Schnauber.
Del Rioan and Vietnam veteran George Hilbig offered a stirring rendition of the National Anthem, and the marchers set out.
