By Regen Esplin

REXBURG — To say that the military, as a profession, has a high mortality rate is far from controversial. Our first thought will naturally go to lives lost in the first line of defense. Our shared gratitude for these men and women has the potential to bring community unity beyond almost any other cause, regardless of other differences. 

However, there is another tragedy familiar to most service members. One that is just as hard to face as the death of a loved one in a combat zone. It is heartbreaking to know a spouse, father, daughter, or sibling who left everything to God in the face of terrible battle. After confronting that possibility, and then seeing a loved one return home, how could you face their decision to take their own life?

The temptation towards suicide is a reality for many veterans. Even those who do not choose that route will often struggle with thoughts and feelings about it. It is a deeply troubling contemplation, but many people are not willing to accept soldier suicide as an inevitability. 

For the month of February, the Army ROTC program at Brigham Young University-Idaho is promoting a fitness challenge. The challenge finds its origins in the charity Stop Soldier Suicide, and is being run nationwide. Participants set a goal to move 60 miles in the month of February in any way they choose. Running, biking, swimming, hiking—whatever the preferred modality—can be used to accumulate miles. 

Payton Dela-Cruz, a cadet in his third year of ROTC, is primarily responsible for bringing this challenge to the attention of the local program. While he is employing ROTC to spread knowledge of the challenge, his intention is to involve all students and community members who want to contribute. 

There are many charities out there tackling the difficult issue of soldier suicide. Several of which are more straightforward in their fundraising methods, without the added commitment of accumulating 60 miles. Stop Soldier Suicide provides an intentional obstacle with the challenge, and not one that added obvious monetary gain to their charity. The miles themselves do not contribute to the organization’s donations. With many decent alternatives, why choose this charity and this challenge? 

When presented with the question, Dela-Cruz didn’t hesitate with his answer. 

“Part of it was my own personal drive to do hard things. But also, I believe the Army is full of people who are willing to do hard things on behalf of others. [In] ROTC, we’re training to be leaders. It’s important [that] we get exposure to opportunities like this — Where we do things that are uncomfortable because we’re doing it for other people.” 

Dela-Cruz has an enthusiasm for the challenge that is having a recognizable impact on the community in the short term. This impact, while far from negligible,  is only possible because of his long-term vision. 

“I want cadets in the program to respect what the Army stands for,” he says. “When they speak about the program they speak about it with solemnity. I want people outside the program to see that we take care of others, and that we take care of our own.” 

The money raised by Stop Soldier Suicide will primarily fund therapy for veterans. The miles themselves may not generate revenue, but the engagement and awareness will certainly lead to more donations. 

The donations fund the means of helping veterans overcome challenges, but the money is not the means in itself. The challenge may have an equal (or even greater) effect on soldier well-being than simple dollar signs. 

Accumulating miles together, whether intentionally or otherwise, is itself contributing to the solution. As part of the challenge, Dela-Cruz has organized times for participants to run together. On Tuesday and Saturday mornings, they come together as a team. There may be easier ways to contribute, but the challenge delivers the impact Stop Soldier Suicide is trying to provide. The runners have something to overcome together. 

“You make your closest friends in the trenches, so this is definitely the way to do it.” Dela-Cruz said, speaking about the unity the challenge provided to the participants. “People don’t like to do hard things. It’s just human nature to choose the easiest path. We know that as members of the [LDS] church. We know that doing the harder good is always more fulfilling than taking the easy way out. I hope that when people see [us], when people participate, that they learn something about themselves, [and] something about what they are capable of.” 

The difficulty of the challenge is the driving vehicle of its impact, and Dela-Cruz expressed his desire for outreach by running the miles together. He was then asked if the miles themselves might contribute to driving down suicidal tendencies among participants.

“I don’t think it’s the end-all-be-all.” Was his answer. “But it has potential for that one [soldier] who is going through a tough time — who just needs to feel like they belong somewhere.” 

In fact, the unity aspect Dela-Cruz has integrated into the challenge might carry more weight than was first recognized. In 2011, the CDC listed “healthy connection” as one of seven effective prevention strategies. It continues as recommended practice for community suicide prevention. Connectedness is a strategy to strengthen relationships with the people who surround us.  

For Christians, this measure comes as no surprise. Just as Dela-Cruz spoke of the one soldier, Christ taught us to reach out to the one and bring them back to the security provided by the 99. 

This challenge addresses the problem of soldier suicide directly. And yet, it has a broader comfort to anyone facing what Christian rhetors call a trial. Eventually, that is all of us. This challenge doesn’t just teach its participants to do hard things. We are allowed agency to face difficulty on behalf of something worthwhile. For the sake of others, participants take up the challenge, and face the obstacle with a strong sense of unity. This is what will pay dividends farther down the road. The miles turn from a drudgery to a joy, if only because we are running them with others who care. 

Dela-Cruz recognized this challenge would leave an impression on most service members. “The military is definitely a place where the people you love are no longer with you in more cases than other jobs. Even if it wasn’t through suicide.”

With these words, Dela-Cruz echos C.S. Lewis, who gives us a soldier’s perspective in his distinctly beautiful prose:

“What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent; 100 percent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased… Yet war does do something to death. It forces us to remember it… War makes death real to us, and that would have been regarded as one of its blessings by most of the great Christians of the past. They thought it good for us to be always aware of our mortality. I am inclined to think they were right…. We see unmistakably the sort of universe in which we have all along been living, and must come to terms with it.” 

Loss is not unique to service members. Lewis is speaking of war, but can his words not be expanded to most of us? Death, while tragic, is one of the only universal human experiences. Eventually, it becomes real to us. Very few of us regard death as the blessing Lewis promises. Even so, the 60 miles has the potential to bring great blessings, in spite of the sorrow inspiring us to run them. 

The challenge, while tackling suicide directly, brings into focus the universal human experience of mortality. While this life brings priceless, beautiful experiences, it forces us (all of us) to confront truly difficult events. Whether we choose them or not, we will face our own challenges. What Dela-Cruz has shown is that, running side by side, we can make the harder choice on behalf of others. We can face the challenges in unison, and when our time comes, others will conquer our 60 miles with us. 

If we are one, we are Christ’s. When it comes down to grinding out life’s miles, we can always run with each other, and that will always matter. 

If you would like to donate, visit Stop Soldier Suicide. Any contributions are valuable and appreciated.