Beshear urged counselors to provide an hour of free service each week for up to one year to returning troops and their families. He said it’s vital that the soliders know they can seek help when needed.
The governor was lending his voice to a national mental health initiative known as Give an Hour.
An average of 18 suicides occur each day among America’s 25 million veterans. Fort Campbell’s suicide rate is currently the highest in the Army, with statistics showing that an average of one soldier per week committed suicide at the post between January and mid-March 2009.
The goal of Give an Hour is to enlist 10 percent of the nation’s licensed mental health providers in the effort by 2015.
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