Department of Tennessee — The following is an excerpt written by 12-year-old Ellie Carpenter and will appear in full as a chapter in my upcoming book regarding veterans’ suicide and associated to our Be the One campaign. Before sharing some of her thoughts about the Be the One campaign, I wanted to showcase a project she and her 10-year-old sister Anna and mother Carrie have undertaken. They paint rocks in a variety of ways - no two are alike - and on the back they place a QR code that takes one to the Be the One website. It's like a challenge coin, but a bit cooler.

Book Excerpt:
My younger sister and I do a lot of Be the One campaigning. I was in parades, delivered a speech at a post and sported my Be the One shirt at every American Legion event I attended. But I never realized the significance of my actions. I just thought I was being a cute kid .... And I got to walk in a parade? Score! Recently, however, I have gotten to know the real importance of this cause I have worked so hard for, not just the fun of it all. While, yes, sweating so much in one 4 of July parade you must stop by your papaw's to get his '90s braided belt so your shorts stay up is fun, it's not the reason I will be doing this anymore. At the ripe old age of 12 (and ½) I have seen loss and experienced my own loss that has changed my perspective. There was this young man at my grandmother’s church who sat in the pew right behind us. He was active-duty military, so I only saw him a handful of times. Every time he was there it seemed as if he was a celebrity. People lined up down the aisle to shake his hand, give him a hug and soak up the happiness that beamed from every inch of him. His smile was like nothing I had ever seen, and as he sat with his family behind us, he seemed like the happiest person on the earth. Then one day, I saw on Facebook that he was gone. It wasn’t an accident either; he had killed himself. So for the rest of the night, I wondered how someone who looked so happy could let that thought even cross their mind. Heck, he seemed a whole lot happier than I was, yet that thought had never crossed my mind. Then, I realized the key word - SEEMED. You don’t have to be happy deep down to look or act happy. You just have to SEEM happy. This is why I now do what I do for the Be the One campaign. You never know what someone is going through, which is one of the points of this cause.

The rest will soon be available in print and not for profit. Please contact the undersigned if you have any questions.
“For the Good of the Legion!”

Todd A. McKinley
Senior Vice Commander
American Legion Department of Tennessee