Richards takes helm of area Stand Down

RICHARDS

"It's a different type of war, but other than that it's still bloodshed and loss of life," said Jim Richards, who was appointed chairman of the North Valley Stand Down Association in January. "Now's a tough time. There's a lot of suicide."

A veteran of the Vietnam war, Richards said he sees men coming back from battle that he once knew as eighth-graders who now can't get a job. He sees a lot of divorces. It reminds him of his past.

"They come back going through the same thing," he said.

The unemployment office doesn't provide enough, either, he said. Checks for veterans trying to go to college often take six to nine months to arrive, he added.

Soldiers are not getting their due, he said.

"They work for cheap for what they do and what they put up with," Richards said. As chairman for the Stand Down, Richards will help veterans get what they need.

The Stand Down event provides hot food, clothes, a place to sleep, medical and dental services, as well as the camaraderie of meeting other veterans for one weekend. A new offering this year, the event will include a court and presiding judge to adjudicate misdemeanors. The court can help veterans with issues surrounding child support or traffic tickets as well. Providing this service will help fit them back into society, Richards said.

The annual Stand Down will be held this year at the Shasta District Fair grounds, 1890 Briggs Rd., Oct. 22-24. Richards wants to offer veterans a hand and invites the community to help as well, as volunteers and donations are sought to keep the event successful each year.

"Working for the Stand Down helped me, it was good therapy," Richards said.

Richards fought his own demons after returning from the Vietnam War.

"I had issues," he said. "I was tired, stressed ... I wigged out. I just started drinking and was done with life. I wasn't the man I was supposed to be. Every night I prayed the good Lord would take me. When he didn't, I'd be angry."

Richards said he began adding liquor to his morning coffee on a regular basis and stayed drunk continuously. Eventually he forgot things. He didn't pay bills. Richards recalled it led to a turning point in the 1990s.

With electricity bills unpaid for sometime, he awoke one day and watched maggots crawl from the refrigerator and out the front door. He said he laughed at the time that even maggots didn't want his company. He went outside, sat down and fell back into a window, cutting open his head.

With the amount of blood spraying about, the neighbors initially thought he had shot himself. They picked him up and took him to an emergency room.

"I realized I needed to do something," he said.

He reunited with his daughters and they helped him clean and get his life on track.

"I realized that I'm affecting a lot of people and people care about me," Richards said.

Richards met a group of men in Point Man International Ministries that made him feel accepted. After 10 years with the group, he joined Stand Down group and he has been passionate about its goals for the last five years.

He also went to a Veterans Assistance officer who recommended counseling. Richards still sees a counselor every week and said he was proud that he could go to counseling and talk other veterans he meets though their problems.

To volunteer, donate or help with Stand Down, call 356-0342.