By Dorothy Meindok
The Post Newspaper Veterans Consultant
Hello all.
This week, I want to take some time to introduce a much needed, difficult conversation about things that
affect all Americans and our military families: guns, common sense, suicide, violence, and our Second Amendment. It isn’t a single article type of conversation and normally our paper, which is community-focused and positive, leaving other outlets to report on such divisive issues to the many opinions as they see fit, has seen it necessary to voice what our reporters are learning from America on our local streets. It is a national issue that affects all Americans. My voice will be that of veterans and military family, as they see things and their collective suggestions and thoughts on the matters at hand. I hope you will join in with us, give your opinions online at the newspaper’s website and let us know how you are feeling. It’s important.
Our children are at stake and despite the numerous theories of possible conspiracy, the fact remains that
people are fearful, dying and survivors left suffering. So far, in my research, I have found that on this issue, most are not Red or Blue, but Purple in that mixing the primary colors of red & blue create the color purple, and all shades of purple depending on how the issue is framed with words and advocacy.
I am a strong advocate and supporter of the Second Amendment and all Constitutional rights, I’ve
sworn to protect the Constitution and our American way of life more times than I can remember as a military member, lawyer, & American veteran, and take that oath very seriously. The issues are complex, but I stand firm in that common sense can lead the way past fringe movements that appear to lack common sense. There are many valid arguments on all sides with answers staring us boldly in our face and set squarely in the middle. It is my opinion that these answers are often overlooked due to the deeply rooted, true and heartfelt, heated emotions that surround what is viewed as a no-win situation. I was in a no-win situation once, personally, tied to violence, guns, and veterans, and it ended in suicide.
Witnessing veteran suicide, before my very eyes, has not changed my personal or professional views on
gun violence. Like the signs that fill our billboards in Galveston County of late stating that guns are rooted in veteran suicides and that the answer is to simply lock them up, I wonder if they mean the guns or the veterans because it isn’t clear from the standpoint of most veterans I’ve spoken to. What I’ve found is that
we all agree that blaming the tool of choice is also a lie because it overshadows and misses the root cause. Many would claim that the root is simply mental illness, but I argue against that simplistic approach as well when it comes to military, veterans and first responders and evidence that even our trauma-afflicted veterans with gun access aren’t the ones involved in mass shootings but the ones responding to them. What I am saying is the issue digs deeper and requires more than what we are
giving to it, so our paper is going to open up those conversations, provide collective and collaborative
voices to the national conversation past the paid for and narrowly-defined standard arguments. I hope
each and every one of you will join in respectfully, thoughtfully and mission-focused to truly help make
an impact and end the senseless violence with real strategy. Please remember it isn’t or doesn’t have to
be an argument, but is a needed conversation begging for common sense actions, nonetheless. It’s time, Galveston County. Santa Fe. It’s time. Uvalde. It’s time. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s time.
DDM
Dorothy Meindok is the Veterans Consultant for The Post Newspaper. She served in the United States Navy and is currently a lawyer advocating for the rights of our nation’s veterans.
