Shownotes
10 7
No One Fights Alone – Remembrance Day Special
Show Notes
Trigger Warning: Discussion of car crash, near‑fatal incident, veteran mental health, suicide risk
On this Remembrance Day special, Elaine digs into what happens when the battlefield follows a veteran home. She opens with a personal story: her father, deployed in Gaza with the Canadian military, listening over a crackling ham radio while his daughter lies dying thousands of miles away.
The message? Serving is only half the battle. The returning, invisible war inside many veterans begins long after the uniforms come off. Using current stats from Veterans Affairs Canada, she shows how men and women who served face significantly higher risk of suicide — not because war wound them, but because silence did.
This episode honours the fallen, yes — and fiercely fights for the living. If you’re a veteran, or love someone who is, this one’s for you. Because no one fights alone.
Show Notes Sections:
💥 What We Talk About:
- Honouring Canadian veterans via symbolism of the poppy & maple leaf.
- Elaine’s personal story: car crash, her father in Gaza, the invisible war at home.
- Suicide‑risk statistics for Canadian veterans: e.g., male veterans 1.4× higher risk than other Canadian men. Veterans Affairs Canada+2 Veterans Affairs Canada+2
- The myth of resilience: training for war not for what happens after.
- A direct message to veterans and military families: you are not broken, you are human.
- A call to every listener: if you see a poppy, ask “How are you really doing?” — and listen.
- 🔗 How to Connect with Episode Host:
- Elaine (@TheDarkPollyanna) — visit SZF42.com, join the Facebook community, subscribe on YouTube or podcast platform.
📞 If You’re in Crisis:
If you're in North America, text 988 for free, 24/7 support.
Elsewhere? Please reach out to your local suicide prevention or mental health hotline. #YouMatter.
💬 Subscribe, rate, and share if this episode moved you. It could be the lifeline someone else didn’t know they needed. #ConverSAVEtions
Bio
Elaine Lindsay @TheDarkPollyanna is your host and guest today.
Some say---She walks the fault lines with ink-stained hands, sketching hope where the sky cracked.
Elaine, Hope Cartographer & Shadow Alchemist known as TheDarkPollyanna, navigates the fault lines between despair and resilience, distilling truth from trauma and weaving raw emotional landscapes into language. She maps the brutal beauty of survival, offering others a compass made of candor, contradiction, and sparks that refuse to die. Not here to fix, here to witness, reflect, and remind you that staying is its own kind of sacred work
Links & Socials
©2025-2018 Elaine Lindsay SZF42.com All rights reserved.
https://suicide-zen-forgiveness.captivate.fm/episode/no-one-fights-alone-remembrance-day-special
Elaine Lindsay
Explicit
Transcripts
24-7-365 theme: Shifted, break the same.
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:Check, say their name,
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:day.
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:Elaine @TheDarkPollyanna: This pin is to
honor those Canadians who gave so much.
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:For the cause of peace and freedom,
the gold maple leaf represents Canada.
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:The red poppy in the foreground
represents those Canadians who
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:served their country in times of
war, military conflict and peace.
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:The red poppy in the background represents
those who served in Canada and all who
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:played a vital supporting role at home.
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:Intertwining of the three elements
symbolizes the unity and strength that
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:Canadians have developed as a result of
their sacrifice in times of war and peace.
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:Because this is about veterans, we will
be talking about my father as well.
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:See, when I was 20 years
old, I was in a car crash.
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:That should have killed me.
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:It almost did.
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:My father was serving with
the Canadian military in Gaza.
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:At the time, he was with
the peacekeeping force.
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:His only link home was a
ham radio scratchy, delayed.
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:You know, they caught half sentences
that took minutes to cross the ocean.
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:I was already married, so I
was no longer a dependent.
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:Officially, he wasn't allowed
to fly home until I died.
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:They told him you'd have to wait,
and once they had the death notice,
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:they would return him to Canada.
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:Imagine that your child is dying.
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:The only way you get to see her or
know if she doesn't make it is if they
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:fly you home thousands of miles home.
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:He sat in the desert listening to static,
not knowing if I was alive or dead.
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:No one asked how he was coping.
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:Back then it was in the seventies.
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:They didn't talk about mental
health in uniform or out.
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:You are expected to suck it
up and move on that moment.
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:His helplessness is something many
military families still know too well.
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:You train to be ready for war,
not for what happens when the war
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:follows you home In Canada, the
numbers tell part of that story.
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:They're not just
statistics, they're lives.
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:According to Veterans Affairs Canada,
male veterans die by suicide at a rate
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:about 38 per 100,000, which is around 40%
higher than men in the general population.
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:For female veterans, the rate is
nearly twice that of civilian women.
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:Among those still serving in
the regular force, the rate sits
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:around 27 per a hundred thousand.
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:For soldiers in combat arms
rolls, it rises to 34 per 100,000.
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:And those who leave the service
young, those under 25, they face
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:the highest risk of all behind.
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:Each number is someone who served
and someone who loved them.
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:Each one is someone's son,
daughter, parent, partner.
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:Paddle buddy.
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:We train our military to be
resilient, disciplined, and strong.
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:But strength is a double-edged weapon
when you're taught to hide pain.
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:To suck it up, it festers in silence.
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:My dad came home with that
silence, sat beside him at the
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:table in the car, at the Legion.
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:My dad was a proud man, but you could
see it the unspoken worry things he
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:saw and the things he couldn't unsee.
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:When we don't talk about mental
health in service families,
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:we don't just lose soldiers.
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:We lose whole families
to grief, disconnection,
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:and quiet desperation.
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:On this remembrance day, if you see
someone wearing a poppy, thank them, but
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:also ask them how they're really doing.
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:Listen, don't rush to fix.
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:Sometimes the most courageous
thing you can do is sit in the
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:quiet with someone else's pain.
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:If you're a veteran
listening or still serving.
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:Please hear this.
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:You are not broken.
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:You are human and humans hurt
and it's okay to need help.
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:It's okay to not be okay, so reach
out to Veterans Affairs Canada.
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:Call or text nine eight
eight for immediate support.
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:You don't have to fight alone.
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:Not anymore.
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:My father never fully talked
about that day in Gaza.
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:My father started in the RAF and
spent 13 months in Aden in Yemen,
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:and then with the RCAF.
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:He did tours in Gaza as a peacekeeper
and later worked on the entertainment
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:committee for the veteran peacekeepers.
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:My father never fully talked
about that day in Gaza.
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:I didn't either, not for decades,
but now I tell his story.
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:But because it connects all
of us who felt helpless.
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:Terrified and silent.
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:So today as we honor the fallen,
let's also fight for the living.
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:Let's keep hope Alive 24 7 365
because no one fights alone.
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:Thank you.
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:I'm Elaine Lindsay, and this
is Suicide Zen Forgiveness.
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:Make the most of your today, every day.
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:Thank Yvette, and we
will see you next time.
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:Voiceover: Thank you for being
here for another inspiring episode
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:of Suicide Zen Forgiveness.
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:We appreciate you tuning in.
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:Please subscribe and download on your
favorite service and check out SZF42
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:YouTube channel or Facebook community.
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:If you have the chance to leave
a five star rating or a review,
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:it'd be greatly appreciated.
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:Please refer this to a friend you
know, who may benefit from the hope
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:and inspiration from our guests.
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:Suicide Zen Forgiveness was brought
to you by the following sponsor,
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:Canada's keynote humorous, Judy Croon,
motivational speaker, comedian, author,
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:and standup coach at Second City.
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:Judy has been involved for over
a decade in the City Street
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:Outreach program in Toronto.
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:Do you have a story to share?
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:Do you know someone you
think would be a great guest?
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:Silence Hero?
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:Please go to SZF four two.com
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:and for our American listeners,
that's S Zee F four two.com.
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:Steadfast.
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:Thank you for listening and
we hope to see you again.
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:You Matter: The pain we all together in.
