Darren Hafford spent Monday night doing push-ups on the bricks outside the Massachusetts State House.Boston is the 30th state capital he's visited on a quest to visit all 50 state capitals, doing 50 push-ups in 50 days.Hafford says the cross-country mission is an effort to raise awareness for continuously rising veteran suicide rates."When I got out of the military, one of the hardest things for me as far as adjusting was having a sense of purpose," Hafford said. "Being in the military, you know, you feel a sense of honor and duty and pride. And when you're in the civilian world, that kind of sort of goes away and you can kind of get lost."Hafford served both in the United States Marine Corps and in the United States Army, as well as time in the Army National Guard for the state of Wisconsin."If you're dealing with some trauma that you may have experienced in a combat situation, it can be really difficult because you don't necessarily have anyone to relate to," Hafford says. "The people that you relied on while you were in the military are now in different parts of the country or may still be deployed and things like that.""I wanted to let veterans out there know that there is help," Hafford says. He says proceeds from a GoFundMe launched will go toward providing counseling services for veterans, as well as police and other emergency frontline workers.Hafford says he hopes one of the takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is for society to take a much closer focus on people's mental health."Perhaps our society is able to take a step back and look and say, 'you know, mental health is an issue that we've been ignoring far too long and maybe we should start paying some attention to it.'"
Darren Hafford spent Monday night doing push-ups on the bricks outside the Massachusetts State House.
Boston is the 30th state capital he's visited on a quest to visit all 50 state capitals, doing 50 push-ups in 50 days.
Hafford says the cross-country mission is an effort to raise awareness for continuously rising veteran suicide rates.
"When I got out of the military, one of the hardest things for me as far as adjusting was having a sense of purpose," Hafford said. "Being in the military, you know, you feel a sense of honor and duty and pride. And when you're in the civilian world, that kind of sort of goes away and you can kind of get lost."
Hafford served both in the United States Marine Corps and in the United States Army, as well as time in the Army National Guard for the state of Wisconsin.
"If you're dealing with some trauma that you may have experienced in a combat situation, it can be really difficult because you don't necessarily have anyone to relate to," Hafford says. "The people that you relied on while you were in the military are now in different parts of the country or may still be deployed and things like that."
"I wanted to let veterans out there know that there is help," Hafford says.
He says proceeds from a GoFundMe launched will go toward providing counseling services for veterans, as well as police and other emergency frontline workers.
Hafford says he hopes one of the takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is for society to take a much closer focus on people's mental health.
"Perhaps our society is able to take a step back and look and say, 'you know, mental health is an issue that we've been ignoring far too long and maybe we should start paying some attention to it.'"
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