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Michigan lawmakers push for Green Alert system to help locate missing veterans

By
Jack Springgate
Jack Springgate
Jack Springgate joins the CBS News Detroit team after working for nearly seven years as a news reporter and anchor in South Bend, Ind., and Minot, North Dakota.
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Jack Springgate

/ CBS Detroit

Many people have heard of the Amber and Silver alerts to find missing children and seniors, and now some Michigan lawmakers are considering a Green Alert system for missing veterans.

Veterans and service members already face an increased risk of self-harm from the trauma experienced while serving, and those risks go up even more when they go missing.

"I've been waiting for it to happen, I've been praying for it to happen," said Bob Bull, aVietnam veteran and advocate from Ypsilanti.

Bull wrote a resolution that made its way to Michigan lawmakers in hopes of adding the state to the handful of others that already have Green Alert systems in place.

"If we can get an alert out there and we can say, 'hey, one of the persons who held their hand up and swore that they would die for you is alone out there and needs help,' I think that's important," Bull said.

State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, is the one taking Bull's resolution to Lansing and said it would operate similarly to the Amber Alert. Cavitt says Green Alerts won't just help bring veterans to safety, but they can also help find National Guard and active-duty service members who are missing and at risk.

"They may be younger vets who are suffering from PTSD, or they may be older vets who are suffering from dementia or mental health issues. A caregiver is who is able to call to report this, and then they would work with law enforcement to get it onto the alert system," said Cavitt.

Cavitt says the Green Alert resolution received bipartisan support from the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, which will vote on it before he can then introduce it as a bill on the House floor.

"Existing infrastructure is already in place. We have the Amber Alert. Mental health and public safety are not partisan issues, you know. I think it's got a great chance of getting across the finish line," Cavitt said.

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