美国国家公共电台 NPR Balancing Safety And Privacy When A Veteran Goes Missing

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

When a child goes missing, authorities can send out an Amber¹ Alert. It reaches people in the area through their phones, their radios, TV screens and on highway billboards². Authorities can also send out what's called a Silver Alert to help find older people who are cognitively³ impaired⁴. Both programs are meant to find people who cannot help themselves.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Those are a bit different from the Green Alert. It's a new warning system for veterans who are believed to be at risk. So far, Wisconsin is the only state with a Green Alert program, but a bill to promote it nationally is moving through the U.S. Senate. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports with a high rate of suicide among veterans, the effort to save lives can conflict with a desire to protect privacy.

QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE⁶: If you live in Wisconsin, you may already know what a Green Alert sounds like on TV.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Authorities are looking for a missing Eau Claire veteran. Thirty-six-year-old (beep) was reported missing by family and is considered a veteran at risk.

LAWRENCE: It's statewide with name and license⁷ plate number, picture, height and weight.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Beep) suffers from PTSD from his service overseas as well as depression. He may be traveling to North Dakota and may have a handgun in his possession.

LAWRENCE: That's how it sounds. This is how it feels if you're the veteran.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: They initiated⁸ that Green Alert and had my face and vehicle information and everything everywhere - everywhere, on the Internet, radio. It was on the highway signs, the electronic signs. There was - I was on TV, on the news.

LAWRENCE: This Wisconsin combat vet⁵, a former Air Force staff sergeant⁹, was in a Green Alert like the one you just heard. He found himself driving down the highway when his name and his mental health condition appeared on the billboards.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: You know, and to hear them say things like, you know, if you see this veteran, don't talk to him; don't approach him...

LAWRENCE: We're withholding¹⁰ the sergeant's name to protect his privacy though it's a bit late for that in Wisconsin. He never consented to having his name and his health conditions made public.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: You know, when it felt very violating 'cause I didn't want everyone who doesn't know me to know I have problems - made me want to kind of crawl into a bigger hole.

LAWRENCE: That is not to say the sergeant is completely opposed to Green Alerts. But first some background - the Wisconsin law is called the Corey Adams Searchlight Act. Adams was an Afghanistan vet from Milwaukee who went missing in 2017. His family feared he was suicidal, but police didn't immediately treat him as a missing person. Adults have a right to disappear if they want to. Adams was found dead weeks later. His family mobilized around the idea of a Green Alert system, and it became law in Wisconsin last year. And that attracted a powerful advocate.

DON BOLDUC: My name's Don Bolduc. I am a retired¹¹ soldier.

LAWRENCE: He's actually a retired general who commanded special forces - numerous combat medals.

BOLDUC: I'm not going to say it, though (laughter).

LAWRENCE: He doesn't brag¹². What Bolduc has been public about is his PTSD and a traumatic brain injury from more than 10 combat deployments.

BOLDUC: I put skin in the game. I've come out public on active duty. We have to continue to destigmatize these things so that our veterans aren't afraid to get help.

LAWRENCE: Bolduc has focused on the high suicide rate among veterans which VA estimates is about 20 per day. When he heard about the Green Alert, he was all in. He says the first 24 hours when someone goes missing are crucial to preventing suicide.

BOLDUC: We do it for our elderly because we have tremendous amount of respect for our elderly. We do it for our children because we love our children. And we need to do it for our veterans, too.

LAWRENCE: Bolduc got in contact with his New Hampshire senator Democrat¹⁴ Maggie Hassan. Hassan co-sponsored a bill to promote Green Alerts nationally with Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself an Iraq vet. Here's Hassan and Ernst on Fox News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MAGGIE HASSAN: What this bill would do would be establish a commission at the federal level to help states develop best practices to develop their own Green Alert systems.

JONI ERNST: As a combat veteran, I have seen this many times over. The Iowa State Senate just passed a Green Alert bill unanimously in my home state.

LAWRENCE: Many other states are considering Green Alert bills, including Connecticut, where Steve Kennedy is a veteran's advocate. He's an Iraq vet. And when he first heard about Green Alerts, all he could think about was the unintended consequences.

STEVE KENNEDY: I have struggled with these same things. I mean, I've been suicidal myself. I've struggled with PTSD and depression. And the last thing that I would have wanted while I'm feeling like everything is falling apart and I'm just completely hopeless is to have all of that sent out to every person I have ever known.

LAWRENCE: Kennedy says he's afraid lumping veterans in with lost children and impaired elderly people is stigmatizing¹⁵. Only a small number of Green Alerts have actually been triggered, all in Wisconsin. One of them is the Air Force sergeant who spoke¹⁶ with us.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: And I found out about the Green Alert, and I at that point changed direction and headed out of state.

LAWRENCE: The sergeant deployed¹⁷ to Iraq and Afghanistan. He's quick to say he never saw any heavy combat, but his plane did get shot at.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: We'd get some bullets, you know, here and there. So when we would land, I'd have to go and get sheet metal crew out there to fix those panels that would get hit by bullets.

LAWRENCE: Still, PTSD hit about a year after he got home in 2005. That's not unusual. The roots of post-traumatic stress aren't always clear, and the majority of military suicides are people who didn't deploy¹³ or see combat. He's been getting care at the Madison VA for over a decade, and he likes it. Still, in February this year, he found himself on the phone with the suicide crisis line.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: It was just kind of made clear, you know, that they were going to do everything they could to find me. And that was the point where they initiated that Green Alert. And I had my face and vehicle information and everything everywhere.

LAWRENCE: He was a mess when he got to a friend's house. His friend quietly called the police. And luckily the sergeant says there was another veteran among the dozen or more cops who showed up, and that vet kept things calm and talked him into going to the hospital. He's of two minds about the Green Alert.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: It probably helped find me, but I don't know if it helped me (laughter), if that makes sense.

LAWRENCE: He thinks it maybe saved his life. But since then has been rough.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: 'Cause I still face on a daily basis a constant barrage¹⁸ of questions of my personal life and what had happened that day when I don't want to discuss that with those people. It's not their business. Someone will walk up to me in the middle of a meal at a restaurant, you know - hey, are you that Green Alert guy, you know? And it's just - and then immediately I'm taken back to all those emotions.

BOLDUC: I certainly respect the gentleman's concerns.

LAWRENCE: That's Don Bolduc, the special forces General.

BOLDUC: You know, they're valid¹⁹ concerns, but you're not weak. You're strong.

LAWRENCE: Strong, Bolduc says, for reaching out to get help. He says the Green Alert system can be done right to balance privacy with saving lives.

BOLDUC: Any program that we can get to help them is, I think, worth pursuing. You know, I want my loved one alive, right?

LAWRENCE: The Wisconsin sergeant gets his point, but he's still of two minds.

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: It's still affecting me dramatically and negatively, you know? So, you know, but at the same time, it's very possible that that's why I'm here. So it kind of goes both ways.

LAWRENCE: The bill in the U.S. Senate is to set up a commission on how to do Green Alerts. And he's hoping they get it right. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, near Madison, Wis.

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

3 cognitively   

参考例句：

• Cognitively,man,the subject of cognition,must classify and categorize the objects. 从认知学角度来看 ，作为认知主体的人对于认知对象必须进行分类和范畴化。 来自互联网
• Cognitively, reference can be studied along with information processing of human mind. 从认知的角度看，要研究人类思维的信息处理过程。 来自互联网

4 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

8 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

9 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

10 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 brag   

v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的

参考例句：

• He made brag of his skill.他夸耀自己技术高明。
• His wealth is his brag.他夸张他的财富。

13 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

14 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

15 stigmatizing   

v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Laing regards the concept of mental illness as both unscientific and stigmatizing. 菜恩认为精神病的概念是不科学的和诬蔑性的。 来自辞典例句
• The existing social benefits are considered to be stigmatizing and repressive. 现存的社会福利被指责为是无价值的、残暴的。 来自互联网

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

18 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

19 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？