James Woods Launches Rescue Effort After Vet Tweets He Is Going To Kill Himself
Actor James Woods employed his Twitter account to call attention to a military veteran who said he was contemplating suicide.
Woods engaged in a back-and-forth with a Florida man named Andrew MacMasters, who tweeted, “I’m on Twitter every day, I retweet all the time but this is the first tweet I’ve ever written.”
“I’m a good guy, I’m a veteran, I love America,” MacMasters continued. “I’m gonna kill myself tonight. I’ve lost everything. I have nobody, nobody cares. Im in a parking lost with my dog and everything I own. Bye.”
Wood responded wondering where the man was, and asking if they could talk.
We can talk. I don’t care what anybody thinks. Do you? Let’s have a conversation. Just you you and I. https://t.co/0ZD0YU6pFx
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) November 20, 2018
“We can talk. I don’t care what anybody thinks. Do you? Let’s have a conversation. Just you… and I,” Woods said in one tweet to MacMasters, then adding in another, “I’m following you now, so you can DM (direct message) me. We can talk privately. Or we can talk openly right here. Lot of people worried about you right now.”
The “Casino” actor continued to try to engage the veteran, who has since deleted his tweet.
“So think about this. A lot of vets, I understand, have come to where you are tonight,” Woods wrote. “If you could just push this decision off tonight, at least, maybe you would also inspire another vet to seek help. You could save another man, too. By waiting to do this.”
After MacMasters did not communicate with him and deleted his original tweet, Woods reached out on Twitter and learned the veteran is from the Orlando, Florida area.
Woods then used Twitter to try and make authorities in Orlando aware of the situation.
Hello, @OrlandoPolice. A man named Andrew MacMasters just said on @Twitter that he is sitting in a parking lot and is going to kill himself. He’s sitting with his dog, a black lab, possibly in a WalMart parking lot. Can you do a #WelfareCheck? He is a Marine Vet. His tweet: pic.twitter.com/8DwqWVVkhC
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) November 20, 2018
Eventually, Woods learned through people who know MacMasters that he is from Maitland, just north of Orlando.
Woods, who played a Vietnam veteran in the 1972 film “The Visitor, said via Twitter that he called the Maitland Police Department.
“The dispatch supervisor there was terrific,” Woods wrote. “He’s confident they will find him. I gave Billy, the dispatcher, Andrew’s home address and the info a reliable source DMed me. They are all over this.”
In a subsequent tweet, Woods said he was encouraged by the number of people who were trying to help MacMasters.
If only Andrew could see the THOUSANDS of fellow Americans who are pulling for him. It’s like he’s lost behind enemy lines and we are cheering him home, willing him to survive. Andrew, do this for the “other 21” vets a day who don’t make it home from the darkness. Stay alive!
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) November 20, 2018
Woods continued to provide updates on Twitter, sharing tweets from those who had notified MacMasters’ family, including his mother and brother, USA Today reported.
Maitland Police Public Information Officer Lt. Louis Y. Grindle told the paper on Tuesday morning that authorities were able to reach MacMasters, though his whereabouts were still unknown.
“Our agency was able to make contact with him by phone earlier this morning, where he advised he was OK but did not wish to have contact with law enforcement,” Grindle said in a statement. “Our officers are still working to try and physically locate him to determine his well-being.”
Radio talk show host and Marine Corps veteran Jesse Kelly also reached out to MacMasters, urging him to direct message him.
Kelly later tweeted, “Thank you to all who were praying and helping. I’m hearing he’s home safe and sound asleep. Praise God.”
Woods wrote in response: “I’m hoping this is true. I think now he probably needs less focus on him from all of us, while his loved ones give him the solace he needs. Thanks to all of you who worked to save a valuable life. My heart breaks for the other 21 vets and others who didn’t make it tonight.”
Stars and Stripes reported a combined total of 20 veterans and active duty personnel take their lives each day, based on the most recent statistics by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Craig Bryan, a psychologist and leader of the National Center for Veterans Studies, said, “The key message is that suicides are elevated among those who have ever served.”
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