VALDOSTA —
Ten airmen have committed suicide in 2012.
“Ten lives have been lost to suicide this year,” explained Moody Air Force Base 23rd Wing Commander Colonel Billy Thomspon to an audience of about 500 airmen Friday morning.
“Guess what? It’s eleven. Twenty-two year-old airman committed suicide yesterday within 24 hours of his first duty station,” said Thompson. “I get chill bumps just saying it. He had his whole life in front of him. I care about that guy - I don’t know him, but he’s one of us; he’s one of you.”
This was just one part of the message superiors passed to their airmen on their day off, in an attempt to boost morale and get people back into the routine of things.
Thompson wanted to ‘appreciate, inspire and empower’ Moody airmen — to talk about their many untold feats; their daily dedication to duty and their importance to the mission.
“Thank you for what you do everyday here, that’s what it’s all about,” said Thompson. “It’s all about killing those guys that need killing and rescuing the guys that need to be rescued. It all begins here.”
Chief Master Sgt. Frank H. Batten III was invited on stage to bring the message even closer home for the airmen.
He discussed an airman at Moody who had told a friend across the country about his contemplation of death.
“Some might blow that off, but this individual took action. He called 911 where he lives and within an hour of that happening we had someone in the room to stop the suicide because it was going in that direction,” said Batten.
Thompson told airmen that it was all right to have a bad day, that resiliency was about bouncing back and being prepared for such moments. He said he had never discharged an Airman for coming forward with a problem, that talking about situations with others is encouraged.
“It’s vital that we help each other,” said Thompson.
After the meeting, School Liaison Officer Ann Lukens explained that the 5,000 handmade thank you notes that were handed out at the beginning of the speech were from area school children. She said it provided students with grammar, composition and letter writing practice while letting airmen know that they are appreciated in the community.
“One out of seven airmen that are deployed come from Moody Air Force Base,” she said. “Our people are gone constantly, whereas they might hope to be home for six months at a time, it doesn’t happen here. It’s the nature of the rescue mission. Our people are constantly being asked to give and give and give; and by God, they are proud of what they do.
“But still, as human beings, there are times they need to hear thank you and good job,” said Lukens.
Moody Air Force Base has offered these stand down days since 2006 in an effort to increase morale.
“Just like the American culture they come from, some of them will have communication problems, some will have marital problems, some will have financial problems,” she explained. “They’re not any different than the average young person walking around in Valdosta, except that these young people have taken the challenge of protecting the nation and putting their lives on the line to make sure we have the opportunity to live in the nation we live in today.”
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