You are not alone. That is the message to veterans who are thinking about taking their own lives.
On average, a veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes, according to VetStar, an organization that counsels veterans who are beset by numerous problems and issues.
Lou Ortiz from the Military Veterans program at Texas Tech said in most cases, the victims do not admit he or she have a problem.
"The challenge is that a lot of veterans don't recognize that they have issues, or if they realize that something isn't quite right, they're not willing to go out and seek assistance because they want to, and the culture in the military is really one that says, suck it up, I can do this on my own," Ortiz said. "Just tough it out and make it work."
Greg Gittner fought in Afghanistan and said it was tough to come home and realize there were so many changes.
"With my spouse, with my children, it was kinda like walking on egg shells for the first couple years because I'm that soldier that says, I'm too proud," Gittner said. "You all changed, everything changed around me, I'm normal, then I realized that life moved on."
Ortiz said there can be many triggers that cause high stress. It can be anything such as troubled finances or loud noises.
For Gittner, it was the sound of fireworks.
"When I came home from Afghanistan, 4th of July's were rough for me to be honest with you," he said. "Simply because of the explosions, things of that nature. Hand grenades, land mines, a lot of land mines and you grow callous when you're there to the sound, but when you come home and you kinda bury it, again, it's that loud noise that brings that though forward. That brings it to the surface."
He wants you to know, if you are going through a tough time, there is help to get your through it.
"Talk to me. Let me figure out what we can do together," he said. "Life always seems bad when you're the key player in the game but when you're on the outside like we are looking in, and we have the trained personal, we can make a difference."
If you are a veteran and are struggling, you can find help from VetStar.
There will be a candle light vigil Sunday night at 10:22 P.M. at the Veterans War Memorial in remembrance of those veterans who have taken their lives or are in crisis.
