Cal U. veterans push attention to military suicide rate
CALIFORNIA – California University of Pennsylvania veterans are deploying a creative approach to draw attention to a report that concluded 22 former soldiers have been committing suicide each day in the United States.
At exactly 11:22 a.m. each weekday through Feb. 20, members of the Cal U. Veterans Club and its Army ROTC will meet in the heart of the campus to perform 22 pushups together to bring awareness to the suicide problem.
“Every time someone does a pushup, it’s a reminder of someone who won’t be here tomorrow,” said Maj. Joe Masserini of Venetia, an assistant Cal U. professor of military science.
“It’s just a good public reminder of what’s going on nationwide,” Masserini said Thursday.
The Cal U. veterans are drawing the statistic from a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs suicide data report in 2012, which resulted from an intensive effort to address mental health issues among veterans.
More than 20 people turned out Thursday at Cal U. on the first day of the pushups campaign, and the university director of veterans affairs, Robert Prah, is hoping the number of participants will increase in the coming days and weeks.
“If anything, my goal is to bring awareness here on campus,” said Prah, a member of the Army National Guard.
“It’s just bringing people together for fun,” Prah said.
He said soldiers returning home from military service sometimes have trouble reconnecting to civilian life.