HelpAVet.US

The HelpAVet.US Blog

Essays on duty, honor, and why private Americans — not Washington bureaucrats — are the only ones who can keep America's promise to those who served. By Rusty Humphries.

I American Duty
American Duty  |  Featured

We Sent Them. We Owe Them. Not Washington — Us.

From Revolutionary War veterans dying in poorhouses to 6,398 suicides in 2023, the American government has never fully kept its promise. Private Americans always stepped in. Now it's our turn again.

Read the essay →

All Essays

For Families

Where to Send a Veteran Who Needs Help: 7 Real Options and How to Hand Them Over

From the Veterans Crisis Line to free Vet Center counseling, with the VA's newest numbers and how to hand each one over without a fight.

Read → Your Dollar at Work

What Happens When You Fund a Veteran's Coach Jeff Subscription

The practical reality of what $511 sets in motion — for a veteran who may have had zero contact with the VA in the past year.

Read → The Honest Reckoning

The VA Has Been Trying for 50 Years. Here's What It Can't Do.

$370 billion. 125% budget growth. 38-day wait times. A clear-eyed look at what the largest healthcare system in America structurally cannot provide.

Read → For Families

How to Help a Veteran Who Won't Ask For Help

Most veterans will not call a hotline, make an appointment, or admit they're struggling. Here's how to reach the ones who won't reach out.

Read → Your Dollar at Work

What $511 Actually Does for a Veteran

The VA spends $14,750 per veteran per year. We do it for $511. A side-by-side breakdown that every fiscally conservative donor deserves to see.

Read → The Truth

17.5 a Day: The Veteran Suicide Number They're Not Telling You

Everyone cites "22 a day." It's wrong — and the real 2023 data is, in some ways, more alarming. 6,398 veterans. Young. Undeployed. Unseen.

Read → The Family Is the Mission

When a Veteran Comes Home, the Whole Family Goes to War

PTSD increases child maltreatment 30% per 1% of returning soldiers. Divorce spikes. Children absorb trauma they can't name. The covenant extends to the family.

Read →

One Year. One Veteran. $511.

Every essay you've read on this page points to the same gap: the VA isn't there at 3 AM, and 61% of veterans who died by suicide in 2023 had no VA health care in the year they died or the year before. Your $511 closes that gap for one veteran, for one full year.

Give Now