Twenty-Two Veterans Gear and Mission (Military)

Veterans helping Veterans 100% of all profits go to help Veterans in need.

I grew up in SE Ohio (Appalachia) and the city where I went to high school had roughly 14,000 people and I knew many Servicemembers and Veterans. Going into the military after high school was a normal thing for a lot of families. My husband went into the Army, just like his dad, his dad’s dad, etc., etc. Even though I now live in Texas, I am never far from home and one thing that seems to bring people together is the obituary section in our city’s only newspaper. If someone is roughly around my age who lived in that city or many of the smaller surrounding areas is in the obituary section, it is unusual enough that I usually get several e-mails, calls, and texts that say, “Hey, did you see about so and so…?” or “Do you remember—?” I had that happen to me yesterday and this time the obituary stopped me in my tracks. The last name was familiar, but not the person but what stopped me was that he was a young decorated Veteran whose life was filled with many impressive details. He had a young family and now he was gone. At the bottom of the obituary, I saw that donations were being made to an organization in his honor called 22 Vets.

It’s not that often I feel compelled to reach out and do a question and answer session for one of my blog posts. For one, as a disclaimer, I do not edit my guest’s responses and their opinions and any comments that are made may not reflect my own. However, I do not want to censor a guest and I don’t if I give them a question to answer. I try to be responsible in what I post and this was one that truly tugs on my heart and I reached out to the CEO and Founder of 22Vets, Jereme Groves, who not only knew the same young man who recently passed away, he grew up in the same region as I did. Small world, right? He is also a Veteran and currently a deployed contractor with no mail or phone privileges in the area he is in, but we could communicate through e-mails. I gave him a short list of questions and kept all his answers just as he wrote them. If you didn’t know what 22 Vets was about before, you will know now. I am also including information about the 22Vets.com website and their tees and sweatshirts you can purchase to contribute to this organization as well as a way to donate directly to its mission. If anyone has ever dealt with issues like PTSD, depression, and suicide, I want to say that you are not alone and there are many outlets to receive help. I want to thank Jereme for his service and for answering my questions about his organization.

Q&A with Jereme Groves, CEO and Founder 22Vets:

Q1: Can you explain the significance for those who do not know the meaning behind the name 22Vets? 22 is the average number of Veterans that commit suicide daily although that number is believed to be higher between 28-40. So it has become more of a symbol than a number. It represents our Brothers and Sisters that lost the internal battle.

Q2: If you are a Veteran who is dealing with issues like PTSD, depression, and suicide; what would you say to them on how to seek support? Call you brother or sister in arms we understand and we will not look at you as being weak. The stigma of being weak because you ask for help doesn’t exist. I don’t know one single Veteran that wouldn’t move mountains to help their brother or sister and if all else fails contact me I will always find a way to help. The power of the Brotherhood is unbreakable.

Q3: For families who are dealing with a Veteran who has PTSD and may be suicidal, what can they do to support them? Always listen, try to understand, encourage them to call their brother and have them stay active physically. Isolation is one of the worst things that can happen to a Veteran and again contact me and we will get through this together.

Q4: Your organization contributes 100% of the profits to helping Veterans in need. Can you tell me more about where some of the contributions go? When I started this I vowed to help Veterans in anyway possible and directly at their level. I’ve done everything from pay cell phone bills, purchase cell phones, assist in rebuilding a house, donated money to help cover bills when the VA didn’t pay a Veteran. I’ve even helped bail a Veteran out of jail after he lost custody of his children. Even something as simple as sending a Veteran money just to have a nice dinner so he knows someone cares. Small acts of kindness go a long way and sometimes it’s just enough to get them back on their feet.

Q5: What made you start 22Vets and how do you think awareness about the rate of Veteran suicide can lower the suicide rate to zero? I lost a friend to suicide and I started noticing how many Veterans were taking there own life and I knew I had to step up and enforce change because the things that are in place aren’t working. I couldn’t understand with all the great organizations out there why the suicide rate was so high so I vowed to help Veterans at their level directly effecting change. Big companies start from the top down and by the time it hits the Veteran it is too late or it’s just a Band-Aid to the harsh reality of life. A guy can go on a free hunting trip and have a great time but then he comes right back to reality and things really never changed.

Raising awareness can and will lower the suicide rate in many ways one of those is to bring more attention to how broken the VA system is. It is truly sad when the welfare system takes better care of people than the VA. Another way is educating friends and family members on signs and symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress. Realizing that someone is struggling and being able to seek help is paramount. We have to take care of our own and having each others back is still your continued mission.

In my opinion two of the biggest factors in Veteran suicide –

Isolation and how it effects us. From the time you join the military you are always taught to have a “Battle Buddy” this meant you never went anywhere alone and if you did you would get punished for it. Almost every single second you had someone with you so the hard times never seemed so bad because you had someone right there beside you going through the same thing. Well the truth is we are all going through the same thing we just aren’t side by side but we are always together. You are never alone.

Having purpose. Just like always having a battle buddy you always had a task and purpose. Each day you were given something to do no matter what it was from conducting missions to doing area beautification. So when we get out that purpose is gone and the feeling of being useless starts to set in. The day I drove off post for the first time I felt it. It’s natural and we all face it but what we do with it is what makes us. So find new purpose and stay in the fight.

If you are struggling please remember you are not alone and asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Please feel free to reach out to me no matter if you are a Veteran or family member I’m here to help.