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Student organizes SHOW

Effort seeks to recognize veterans

By Robert Cloud


A student wants to treat veterans to free musicals and concerts at Waupaca High School.

Caleb Schuelke, a WHS senior, has launched a program called SHOW, Students Honoring Our Warriors.

SHOW’s goal is to provide a free ticket to 25 veterans plus one for a family member or friend.

He needs to raise at least $2,000 to provide tickets to four events.

“I think more needs to be done for the veterans in our community for all they have done for us,” Schuelke said.

Both of Schuelke’s grandfathers served in the military.

His mother’s father served during the Vietnam War, and his father’s father served during the Korean War.

Schuelke also plans to enter the military. He is applying to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Schuelke said he was first inspired to do something for veterans after attending Badger Boys State, a summer program on civics and leadership run by the American Legion.

He noted the serious problems faced by veterans who have returned home from deployment.

A 2016 study by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs found that an average of 20 veterans died by suicide each day.

In 2014, veterans accounted for 18 percent of all deaths by suicide among U.S. adults and constituted 8.5 percent of the U.S. adult population, according to the report.

About 65 percent of all veterans who committed suicide were age 50 or older in 2014.

America’s ongoing opioid addiction crisis has hit veterans especially hard.

Patients of the Veterans Health Administration are twice as likely to die from accidental overdose than non-veterans.

The JAMA Internal Medicine reported that nearly 50 percent of veterans returning from deployment struggle with chronic pain, which is twice the percentage as the general population.

While 4 percent of American adults have opioid prescriptions, 15 percent of veterans are prescribed opioid medications for pain.

Veterans also make up 11 percent of the homeless population in the United States.

Schuelke said he has contacted staff at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King and plans to make a presentation to the Waupaca Rotary Club.

Those wishing to donate to SHOW should make out and send their checks to Waupaca High School and write “SHOW” in the memo line.

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