In this powerful episode of VET’ed. with Jen M. Wagman, Jen welcomes Jerry Shaffer, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, entrepreneur, and passionate advocate for mental health and suicide prevention in the military and Veteran communities. Jerry shares the powerful story behind the inception of the Red Star Foundation, its core mission, and the critical goals driving its work to support the military and Veteran communities.
The conversation takes a deep dive into the sobering reality of Veteran and active duty suicide statistics, a crisis that continues to impact our nation’s heroes, their families and loved ones. Drawing on both lived experience and years of advocacy, he offers a raw and informed perspective on how changing the narrative, tone, and labels assigned to families who suffer the loss of an active duty service member or Veteran as a result of death by suicide and removing any stigma by making them a "Red Star Family," could have a positive effect on prevention efforts.
Jerry also provides insight into the systemic challenges and discusses the efforts underway to "move the needle"—from legislative initiatives in Congress to programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the essential role of community-based organizations.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone committed to understanding the issues facing our service members and Veterans and the dedicated work being done to save lives and bring lasting change.