Mike Johnson
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Save A Warrior (SAW) is a Warrior-led, timeless journey for active-duty military, returning veterans and first responders who feel desperately alone. They offer an alternative holistic service that equips veterans, military personnel, police, firefighters and other first responders with a community of support and practical techniques to overcome the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideations. Save A Warrior believes in challenging conventional thinking. The way they challenge the idea of suicide is so novel and inspiring. It connects the lives of all who are transformed from sharing in the experience.
Serving in such a demanding position and losing it all within just a snap of the fingers can take its toll on someone's mental health, making them change as a person even though that is not who they are. It's a hard transition from protecting, serving and saving lives to coming home to your family and being that gentle, loving and caring person. Most veterans and first responders shut themselves out from the world and turn away from their loved ones, not showing the emotional and mental stresses.
Delbert Grush, a Florida resident, Jefferson County High School graduate and ten-year veteran of the U.S. Army, will be on the road for the next month to bring awareness to the SAW project. Grush will be cycling from Florida to California, covering nearly 2,400 miles. This journey is to help shine some light on our veteran's and first responder's mental health. Last year Grush biked from Florida to Ohio for the same cause to bring awareness to communities about the potential of suicide for our heroes without capes.
After suffering from an illness that had Grush discharged from the army and placed in a wheelchair, things became hard for him. He suffered from depression and PTSD for many years causing harm to the ones he loves and himself. After many years of fighting his demons, Grush was introduced to the SAW program by two of his veteran brothers. After completing SAW, Grush wanted to help the world of veterans and first responders as he was helped.
After last year biking from Florida to Ohio, Grush brought much attention to the program and inspired others to join him on his journey to enlighten people and spread the word. Many veterans and witnesses that completed SAW reached out to Grush after seeing what he was doing to spread the word and volunteered to help him accomplish his goal. Four members of SAW joined him from all over the country and donated, volunteered and dedicated their time to help Grush come up with and complete the FloCal Tour.
This tour would not be possible if it were not for his team Jill Christopher, Justin Miller, Stephen Kern and Gil Esparza. The effort and dedication these people put into their work to get donations, lodging, advertisements, and so much more gave Grush a substantial helping hand in making this dream a reality. The committee has been meeting at least once a week since October 2020, via Zoom. Every member of the FloCal Tour has been through the SAW program, and it has woken them to a new life, and they are very thankful for everything that has been done.
The tour from Florida to California shows how many are affected by these depressing thoughts and that just a few good words or ears to listen to can change more than just one life. In the aspect that one death affects many in the community, the opposite should be as powerful; saving one life should affect many. The tour will begin Wednesday, Sept. 1, in Tallahassee and finish in Simi Valley, Cali. A goal for the FloCal tour is to help raise $500,000 in donations to help others experience SAW and its saving power.
Many of our heroes give more than just their time and dedication to their career; they give their lives. Roughly between 125 and 300 first responders commit suicide each year, and 17.6 veterans take their own lives a day. These numbers are steadily increasing over time. As a community, the word needs to spread like wildfire and stop these numbers from increasing and “Save A Warrior.