By Tim Cherry
Staff writer
Thursday, November 8, 2012

Fort Belvoir Soldiers and civilians learned about being resilient last week, with a little help from James Stewart.

Fort Belvoir’s Headquarters Battalion hosted a viewing of the classic holiday film “It’s a Wonderful Life” for Soldiers and garrison employees Friday at Wood Theater, as the battalion’s monthly Suicide Awareness and Resiliency training event for November.

“Resiliency, for those who don’t know, is basically the ability to bounce back from some kind of a difficult situation,” said Lt. Col. Brian Zarchin, Headquarters Bn. commander, as he introduced the film. “The whole movie’s about bouncing back from what seems like an impossible problem, and that’s what resiliency is all about. George Bailey – the main character in the movie – has to bounce back from a pretty difficult, or what he sees as an impossible, situation, and he’s got a lot more going for him than he realizes.”

In the movie, George Bailey (James Stewart) gives up his dreams to help others, but circumstances cause him to lose hope and consider suicide. Then his “guardian angel” appears and gives him a gift: a glimpse of what the world would be like had he never been born, revealing all of the lives George has touched and giving him a new lease on life.

The film showing was the battalion’s way to boost morale in the unit, and continue to address the issue of suicide.

“We had a suicide in the battalion in August. So, this is something that we’re very concerned about. We’ve got policemen that are out doing 12, 14 (hour) or longer days out here, and some of the work gets a little bit monotonous for them. We’ve got Soldiers that have challenges with their Family’s health and other things, so we try to just break it up a little bit, and by doing stuff like this, it makes them aware,” Zarchin said. “It lets everyone know that other people have problems and they’re not insurmountable – that we can all get over those. “

Zarchin also thought the film was a perfect fit for this time of year, when the stress and emotions surrounding the holiday season can take their toll on Soldiers and Families.

“The holidays are one of those periods where the emotion level goes up and I think suicide rates rise – they’re already high in the military in general, so we’re just trying to get ahead of that. We just want to let people know before the holidays, when it gets tough, that everyone’s got something to add to this world,” Zarchin said.

About 50 Soldiers and civilians attended the event. The Red Cross donated popcorn, and the Directorate for Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation provided the theater.

Larry Chambers, a civilian security guard for the Department of Emergency Services who attended, said the movie encouraged him.

“I learned a lot from it – how to appreciate what I have,” he said. “There are times when we don’t actually see how precious our life is. It was definitely an inspiration for me.”

Master Sgt. Anthony Brinson, 212th Military Police Detachment, appreciated the event because it addressed the suicide issue in a unique way.

“It’s a different approach,” he said. “I think that that movie … was really appropriate. It’s a constant reminder (that) no matter how bad you think things are, as long as you’ve got Family, friends … you’re the richest man in the world. So, there’s no reason that you should take that final road to take your life.”