Georgia American Legion member and Legion Rider Searless Hathaway Willliams had been looking for a way to do her part to carry out the Legion’s Be the One veteran suicide prevention mission.

She found it on this year’s Legacy Run.

A member of American Legion Post 516 in McDonough, Ga., and the Fourth District junior vice commander and ALR director, it was a chance encounter for Williams with a Navy veteran during a Thursday gas stop on the final day of the ride that gave her the opportunity to impact a veteran’s life.

“A young man was coming out of the store. He had a gas can in his hand, and I stopped him and I said ‘hello’. When I stopped him, he said, ‘You know, I miss being in the military.’ He said, ‘I’m going through a lot right now. I’m out of work. I got a wife and a daughter, and I really need to get my (VA) disability squared away.’”

Williams suggested the man go to his local American Legion post and connect with a service officer to help him get the claims process started. He told Williams he didn’t think that would work. She assured him it would.

“I said, ‘Well, I will be your six, and I’ll stand with you all through the process,’” Williams said, adding that at that point the man said his wife had sent him $20 for gas and he needed to get back on the road. That’s when Williams reached into her own pocket and gave the man some money.

“He said, ‘No, you can’t give this to me.’ I said, ‘Yes, I can,’” Williams said. “Because I want you to know The American Legion, we’re going to have your back until you get through this process.”

Williams then found a fellow Rider who had a membership application, which was filled out to make the veteran a new member of the Legion. “When I came back with that application, tears started coming out of his eyes,” Williams said. “I didn’t know anything else to do but give him a hug and tell him, ‘I love you … and give me your number and I’m going to call you once a week.”

The man left the gas station, but not before Williams asked him to reach out to her to let her know he’d arrived home safely. And that’s when she realized the impact their conversation had. The man sent her a text message that read:

“I just wanted to let you know I’ve made it home. Honestly, without the kindness I was shown by the Legion today, I don’t know if that trip would have been possible. It’s restoring a little of the faith I used to have in humanity. Anway, I told you I would keep you posted and I wanted to say thank you.”

“When I got that text message … it just really touched me that I finally did what we’ve been talking about is being the one,” Williams said. “He was as low as he could get, but I didn’t realize that until I read the message. When I read the message I started crying, and my sisters around me hugged me and said, ‘You’re going to be all right.’ It made me feel good that I could possibly save somebody from committing suicide. That’s how I felt when I read that (text). Most people who are about to commit suicide, they’re just looking for somebody to listen to them, hear their story and just answer some of their questions.”