Deshauna Barber, the first Miss USA who is in the Military, is speaking out on behalf of veterans. Barber grew up in a Military family and is currently serving as an Army reservist.
Her passion is helping veterans, and finding ways to stop the veteran suicide rate. She plans to use the pageant’s spotlight and her title to support veterans’ causes and tackle the issue of suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder among military members.
“22 soldiers — 22 veterans — commit suicide each and every day. That’s a catastrophic number,” she said. “I don’t want to say we lost sight of our veterans, but I do think that sometimes they’re underappreciated for the sacrifices that they’ve made.”
Burdened with the stigma associated with mental health issues and the military “shame” surrounding PTS (Post Traumatic Stress), they instead turn to suicide as their only option to relieve their suffering.
Miss USA’s assistance in bringing attention to the needs of American Veterans for Aid & Assistance will be a welcome addition to the work of many organizations who work tirelessly to see that our vets are given the care they need and deserve.
