I was browsing Facebook the other day, and I read a post in a group for military suicide that scared me. “I just want to end the pain tonight.” It was posted the night before, 16 hour prior to me seeing it. A few people had commented with … [Read more...]

What do you miss most about the military? Let me guess… camaraderie. It’s the most popular answer. We all saw it. Service members can be seen drinking together, working together, and supporting one another. In the Marine Corps, our Physical … [Read more...]

Tim and I discussed suicide in our first substantive one-on-one conversation. We were wandering around Sea Cliff, New York before the wedding of a mutual friend and somehow it came up. Knowing Tim’s love of off-beat conversation, he may well have … [Read more...]

One day a friend of mine will die. Later, another will die. Death is something that we as a species are cursed with knowing. Each death will be sad, but I hope to limit the amount of deaths that bring regret. Not just the regret of wishing … [Read more...]

"Wait, how did he know that?" This was the immediate response from a student at The Washington Center last night after his classmate correctly answered my question on the number of veteran suicides per day. I was surprised - not that someone … [Read more...]

Find empathy. Discover renewed purpose. Gain mentorship. Know you matter. Those are the main points in any of my presentations and they are common themes across this project. They make sense to both veterans and non-veterans. When it comes to true … [Read more...]

"I read your post the other day." I hear that often now. Usually it gets followed up with "I thought it was good" or "I'm impressed" or "I think it's so important that you're doing this." Sometimes people are referring to one of the stories … [Read more...]

I got into another one of my "funks" recently. This past weekend, I became frustrated with life and started feeling guilty about the past. I'm sure this is something many of you can resonate with. I want to reiterate a couple points I've been … [Read more...]

I separated from the Marine Corps on September 14, 2011. Like most Marines, I was ready for the relief. I was also nervous. I thought I had a good plan, but I was wrong. A lot has transpired in three years. Since getting out of the Marine Corps, … [Read more...]

I rolled into the weekend without a story ready to release on Monday. Sunday evening came, and I hadn't made any progress. I woke up Monday morning worrying about getting it done. By the time it was 5pm, I just wasn't feeling it. I wasn't in a good … [Read more...]