Resources for Family/Friends of Military Suicides

[Il Duce]

I just got a message from a friend from back home. Her nephew, an Iraq war veteran, committed suicide yesterday. She had spoken of him before, believe he was an enlisted infantryman 05-07 and has had some significant PTSD and adjustment problems.

My friend and her husband are wonderful people (they lead the youth group at my parents' church, and have since I was involved as a teenager - over 20 years ago) but have never served in the military and my home town is not much of a military community - Ft. Bragg is the closest post, about 2 hours away.

I'm wondering if there are current resources folks know about where family/friends connect and work through their grief? I figure there's a lot for spouses/parents but wondering about extended family/friends. Would appreciate any resources/guidance folks are familiar with.

 

[The Hate Ape]

Military One Source will provide just about anything and everything so long as it does not require intervention for a treatable condition - to which they will forfeit the rights to that individual to a medical care facility.

 

[Marauder06]

Putting this here instead of starting a new thread.
I wrote this. More accurately, I re-wrote this for a .mil audience, based on what I think is one of the most powerful pieces we ever published on my blog, The Havok Journal. It's about veteran suicide, and I hope that anyone who is contemplating going down that road will read this, and the poem that inspired it, and make the choice to live.

Veteran suicide is a serious issue, and suicide in our community outpaces the rate of our civilian peers. Last month was suicide awareness month, but that didn't prevent a spate of veteran suicides from happening.

"22 a day" is what the veteran community claims is what we lose to suicide. Whether that number is accurate or not, that's what we believe. That's what we talk about. To "become one of the 22" is a euphemism for veteran suicide.

To be clear, I'm fine. This isn't about me. It's about everyone who is out there, who is going through a hard time. This is your sign to keep going. This is your reason to live.

The Day After I Became One of the 22 • The Havok Journal

 

[Muppet]

Putting this here instead of starting a new thread.
I wrote this. More accurately, I re-wrote this for a .mil audience, based on what I think is one of the most powerful pieces we ever published on my blog, The Havok Journal. It's about veteran suicide, and I hope that anyone who is contemplating going down that road will read this, and the poem that inspired it, and make the choice to live.

Veteran suicide is a serious issue, and suicide in our community outpaces the rate of our civilian peers. Last month was suicide awareness month, but that didn't prevent a spate of veteran suicides from happening.

"22 a day" is what the veteran community claims is what we lose to suicide. Whether that number is accurate or not, that's what we believe. That's what we talk about. To "become one of the 22" is a euphemism for veteran suicide.

To be clear, I'm fine. This isn't about me. It's about everyone who is out there, who is going through a hard time. This is your sign to keep going. This is your reason to live.

The Day After I Became One of the 22 • The Havok Journal

View attachment 48560

I've had a couple friends I served with at Bragg take their lives. I've also had a few friends from my EMS world take their lives, including my best friend, Kenny.

I'm not gonna lie and most don't know this but when Kim died in 2013 and while you all were here for me, I still contemplated suicide.

I sought therapy and never looked back. I wish those I loved would have reached out. We all have stories I presume.