Suicide Prevention Week | My Road Trip Across America

I wasn't afraid to die in the heaviest combat in the war but I still felt the transition was tough - everyone who's struggling thinks they're the only ones struggling because no one wants to talk about it. Especially during the pandemic, I noticed a big increase in mental health challenges. This is one of the main reasons I started my Road Trip across America.

Every vet I knew was in crisis during the pandemic. Vets who have never had mental health struggles before, suddenly were in danger because they had too much time on their hands . Veteran suicides during Covid up 30%, and the military suicide rate is already 50% higher than the national l average. The gravity of reality really hit me when one of my best friends called me in a crisis. It was not even a cry for help, it was more of a goodbye. He basically said “hey it's been real, I appreciate you” etc. etc, and it was shocking for me because I never saw that one coming. Thankfully, I was able to get him help and he's doing great now but I think this shows that so many guys right under our noses are suffering in silence.

After this experience, I felt it was my time to give these guys a motivational kick in the ass and convince them there's still a whole bunch of stuff they want to do in their life. Showing them how much life there’s left to live, especially for those who didn’t make it home, really resonates with a lot of veterans I’ve found. I wanted to remind all those who were struggling how great our country is and why we fought for it in the first place. Most importantly, I wanted to show my struggling peers that you can truly do anything, but you have to be alive to do so. For example, I climbed one of the most technical climbs in the world, even though I’d never rock-climbed a day in my life. I needed to prove by example that even when you think something is impossible, sometimes just getting out of bed, you can do it. So that’s what I did, I picked something impossible to do and I did it.

Failure isn't an option sometimes, and that includes giving up on your life. Don’t fail yourself. As hard as it may seem and even be in the moment, you just have to keep waking up. And you don’t have to do it alone, not only is it okay to get help, it’s brave and it’s one of the greatest things I've ever done for myself. Don’t let ego and preconceptions get in the way of living your life and start walking down the road in a positive direction.

The most important thing is to drop the guards and have real conversations about what you’re going through. We’re all going through the same stuff at the end of the day and we need to step up and own it. American hero lives depend on it. You need to know the struggle is real, but no one can get through it more than those who have been in it. Never Stop Fighting