Oscar winning documentary sheds light on veteran suicides

MULLICA HILL, Pa. (WPVI) -- "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1," the Oscar winning documentary by Ellen Goosenberg Kent of Philadelphia and Dana Perry brought light to an alarming trend: American veterans are killing themselves at a rate of 22 a day, nearly one every hour.

Retired Marine Staff Sgt. Joe Dimond who led a bomb squad team in Fallujah, Iraq knows firsthand about the severity of the problem.

"I've lost friends to suicide. I have friends who I've served with who are fighting suicide frankly every day," Dimond said.

Dimond has a website and Facebook page called, 'The Stain of War,' a project he hopes will get veterans to open up about their personal experiences with the horrors of war.

"What I would say to the veterans - and this is my whole goal with 'The Stain of War' project - is, 'veterans, you need to stop holding back, you need to start telling your story, you're not monsters,'" Dimond said.

From personal experience, Dimond knows what it's like to fall into the abyss.

"It took a divorce, it took being homeless, took all these things happening before I finally had good people in my life who took me in and helped me out to get back on my feet," Dimond said.

Dr. Dave Oslin of the Philadelphia VA's Behavior Health Unit says they saw 18,000 veterans last year suffering from various types of mental ailments.

He, like Dimond, says there's no shame in getting help and urged veterans to call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255.

Meantime, Dimond has been doing his part to help his fellow vets.

"If I can get that 22 suicides a day down to 10, 15, if I can save just one life, it's all worth it. That's therapy for me," Dimond said.

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