My name is Jacqui. I am a US Veteran. I am trying to help the family of another soldier that I served with. He committed suicide in May of 2025. Out of respect for his family, I do not want to share his or their name.

We were deployed together. He was the funny one of our platoon, our entire company to be truthful. He was just a young man in his early 20s, still had that spark for life and the desire to have fun and just enjoy it. He would do anything he could to help you when he could. He would talk and listen, which in that setting, we all needed. If you needed something, he would do his best to help you get it. He was generally just your all-around good guy.

Like so many, he came home with PTSD. He struggled. His struggle was made easier with the help of his wife. She doted on him. She loved him. She never gave up on him. She stood beside him through every dark moment. She loved him. And he loved her. She was his world. They had 2 daughters together. I would not have thought he could love anyone as deeply as he did his wife, but he loved those girls. More than anything, he loved all 3 of them. He struggled so hard to get better so that he could give them a life they would love. Like many couples, they struggled. But one thing they were never low on was love.

We don't know what changed. We didn't know anything had changed. Unfortunately, it did though. He lost his battle with PTSD.

So many lives were changed that morning. A wife lost her husband. 2 beautiful girls lost their daddy. I lost one of my greatest friends. An entire unit lost one of their brothers. The world lost a great man. Devastation doesn't even begin to describe how we all feel.

Unfortunately, he was in the process of still having his VA claims processed. That means as of right now, there is no financial help for his family. They were a 2-income home and now it will be up to his wife to take care of the girls on her own. She already works full time.

PTSD is horrible. It has taken so many men and women from this world, from their families. Families that stood by and did their best to help these soldiers recover from the horrors experienced while deployed.

As a unit, we are trying our best to help take care of our brother's family. We were a family while he was here, we are a family still. He may be gone but they are still our family. We care as deeply for them as we did him. We will take care of them. Unfortunately, we can't all help financially as much as we would like to. We are hoping to get some help to help them get through these new times until they get back up on their feet. His wife is currently missing work and now without his income, that's going to make life very hard.

22 veterans take their life a day. Each and every one is personally felt by every other veteran. Sometimes they are just a little closer to home.