‘Suicide is a pretty serious deal for veterans’: Beatrice Buddy Check helps veterans know they aren't alone

BEATRICE - The Beatrice Buddy Check is making its away to small communities, including Beatrice. The group meets the 22nd of each month, to help veterans who are dealing with PTSD, as well as those who are currently deployed.

Scott Bates and Davin Stege are both members of the buddy check. 

“There’s a lot of guys who don’t like going to the VA so they come here just to be around other vets,” Stege said. 

Bates said the program was brought to Beatrice by a veteran couple.

“They heard about this and wanted to bring it to Beatrice,” Bates said. “So, about November of 2020 is about when they started the program around here in Beatrice.”

According to the VA’s Veteran Suicide Prevention Report, in 2019, 6200 veterans committed suicide. Programs like the buddy check are crucial in a tempting to bring this number down.

“Suicide is a pretty serious deal,” Stege said. “I can’t think of a couple veterans that don’t know someone who committed suicide or at least attempted it.”

The Beatrice Buddy Check isn’t a typical meeting, but more of an attempt for veterans to be there for one another at any given time and place.

“I’ve given my phone number out to countless people, gotten calls at two o’clock in the morning, talking someone off that ledge,” Stege said. “It’s just the idea of letting other veterans know that they’re not alone.”

For Stege and Bates, the feeling of a veteran saying they were brought out of a low point, is what the program is all about.

“That’s pretty rewarding,” Stege said. “Helping another veteran, that’s a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal for a veteran to be able to help other veterans,” Bates said.