Fort Stewart shooting highlights mental health struggles for soldiers, veterans

Fort Stewart shooting highlights mental health struggles for soldiers, veterans

Tonight, an update on Wednesday’s shooting at Fort Stewart. New video shows the moment 6 soldiers rushed to help after an active duty sergeant opened fire inside a Fort Stewart barracks. Army officials now say 6 service members tackled 28-year-old Cornelius Radford ending the attack. leaders today praised the soldiers who stepped in, saying their actions saved lives. One hesitated. Most of these soldiers behind me and others in the crowd immediately started to find first aid and most importantly, stopped the bleeding. And when we spoke to the surgeons in the hospital, it was clear that the actions certainly saved their lives. Hours ago, Army officials say 3 of the 5 injured soldiers were released from the hospital. 2 others are still being treated. One soldier remains as an inpatient here at Wynn Army right here on Fort Stewart. She’s doing very well in high spirits, and we have 1 soldier that remains at Savannah Memorial Community Hospital. She’s got a little bit longer road to recovery. Today Radford was moved to the Liberty County jail. Right now investigators are going through shell casings and witness statements. They hope to find out why Radford, a service member for 7 years, shot his coworkers. Wednesday’s shooting at Fort Stewart has raised questions about mental health challenges soldiers and veterans deal with during and after their service. Elizabeth Hunter talked to the VA in Perry about services available for those who are struggling. One bad choice can ruin your life. — After
— 12 years of Army service, Alonzo’s sermons is all too familiar with the struggle of mental health. Back in those days, mental health was not necessarily a brand, if you would. It wasn’t a thing. Surman says it took him a long time to figure out how to deal with his mental hurdles. I have to be careful what situations that I know would trigger me and to avoid those things. Surman says the veteran. Affairs resources helped him make a change. There are phenomenal counselors and group classes with other fellow veterans that can give you their story and how they made adjustments and pivot during those times of chaos, and it’ll help you out a lot. Heather Prunty is a mental health counselor at the Perry VA Medical Center. She says their office sees up to 30 veterans a day. There’s a lot of things that they deal with individually. Personally, occupationally, socially, um, and they just need to know that that additional support is here. Prunty says for both active duty and retired service members, reaching out for help is the hardest part. I’m very proud of the veterans when they come in and ask for help and seek out that additional resource that lets me know that they have a strength that they didn’t even know they had. Prunty says family can play a critical role in helping their soldier or veteran get help. That was the case. sermons. — When
— I did go get the help, it really made me open my eyes to see where I was wrong and how — they saw me when I didn’t see
— myself. In Perry, Elizabeth Hunter, — 13 WMAD
— News. Prunty says that if you can’t get to the VA, telehealth counseling of options are available as well. — Now
— mental health disorders are on the rise among active duty service members. According to the military health system from 2019 to 2023, more than half a million active duty service members were diagnosed with a mental health condition. The most common disorders PTSD, depression, and substance abuse. If you are a veteran or an active duty service member, there are resources outside of the VA clinic that can help. There’s the military crisis line. You can reach that by dialing 988, then press 1. Other resources in central Georgia are the Vector Center in Warner Robins and Macon Mental Health Matters.

The Fort Stewart shooting spotlights mental health challenges veterans face. VA counselors and family support provide vital help for those struggling daily.