Local veteran shares her story for Suicide Awareness Month

A very important topic we're getting into now for one local Air Force veteran surviving war was only the beginning of the battle. Now she's sharing the story of the night. She chose to ask for help, hoping her experience can be a spark for another veteran who may be struggling with their mental health. So let's go ahead and bring in Sam Hargrove. She's an Air Force veteran. Sam, thanks so much for joining us. And first, thank you for your service. Good morning. Thank you so much for that. Thank you for your support. So first, share with us, take us back to Iraq, to that day in Iraq. What do you remember about what happened that day during your time there? I remember being in the morale tent and there was an explosion and pretty much blew a lot of stuff in different ways to include myself and some other people that was in there. And it was just a hectic moment to be exact. Thank you so much for sharing. Now you came home from deployment, you know, but in many ways the war came home with you. So what did those invisible wounds look like for you? Those invisible wounds were very, very traumatic, let's say. It was just one of them moments where I was very angry inside. I did a lot of drinking. There were just things that I could not, like, get a hold of and did not understand that was going on, to be honest with you. Understand. And when was the moment where you realized, I need help, something has to change here? The moment that happened was I was actually at home on a drinking binge and my godson, when I got very angry and I ended up punching a bunch of holes in walls or whatever, and my godson happened to be there in that moment. And it was in that moment where I saw his fear because he was afraid of me. And I never wanted to be that person to do that to any child, any person, to be honest with you, but definitely not a child. And so it was in that moment where I actually had left my home and I decided that in order to not to put him or anybody else through it, that I was going to literally drive my car into a tree. But as I had left the home, as I had left my house, I decided, you know, I can't do this to my family. I had to think about them. And I had to realize that, you know, that would cause more harm on them just knowing what happened in general. So I chose to ask for help instead. You chose to ask for help. So talk about what it was like to make that decision to ask for help, especially after spending years being the person that other people can count on. It was an embarrassing but humbling moment. I never wanted to feel weak, but I realized that it wasn't a weak moment. I know I needed help and I had to be here, if not only for me, but especially for my family and especially my guys. And how did connecting with other veterans change things for you? Connecting with other veterans, it changed things tremendously because it was amazing to find out that I wasn't the only one, you know, that there are others out here like me. And so not feeling alone and knowing that there are other people that have experienced the things that I experienced or that feel the way I feel, it took a bit of a weight off my shoulder because now I have somebody that I can turn to and talk to. And now you're sharing this story because you believe that connection can save lives. So what do you want a veteran who feels isolated to hear today? Yeah, I definitely want a veteran to know that you're not alone. There are different resources out there that can help. There are veterans like myself that can help Wounded Warrior Project, Warrior Care Network. Those are things that can help. I myself am a peer leader, and so I can help you and guide you through resources. There are other peer leaders out there that can help and guide through resources or guide you in the right direction. Wounded Warrior Project has a whole resource center that people can reach out to. Just know that you're not alone and there are others out here that can help and will help. And you just mentioned that you do work with the Wounded Warriors Project. I want to talk a little bit more about that so people understand what it is and what services it provides to veterans. Yes. Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization that allows post-9-11 veterans to seek resources and getting help in anything pretty much that you need, mental, physical. It doesn't matter that they're there for all the type of help that you need. Thanks so much for sharing. Any final thoughts here? What's the one thing that you hope that veterans take from this interview? I hope that veterans know that there are others out there that can help and that they're not alone. There are resources out there that are there for us to seek help and to reach out to let us know that we have each other's back and as we always say, I got your six. Thank you so much, Sam. Before I let you go, where can people find more information about the Wounded Warriors Project? Yes. Everyone can go to woundedwarriorproject.org and you have a host of things and information there right there on their website. Sounds good. Thanks so much for your time today, for coming here to share your story and to inspire another veteran. Thank you again and thank you for your service. Thank you so much, Jasmine. I appreciate it.