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Suicide is a Terrible Thing
9 years ago
General
It is with a heavy heart that I write this today.
On Friday, April 22, my best friend and U.S. Army EOD tech Jacob Clark decided to end his own life. I'll never know what sort of personal demons that he was battling led him to this decision, or what we as his friends could have noticed and done differently. After he returned home from Afghanistan about a year and a half ago, everything seemed pretty normal with him, except maybe his sense of humor had gotten slightly darker and he had some choice opinions of the native population over there. All I do know is that he wasn't too keen on talking about his experiences over there save for some of the on base antics when him and his buds were bored.
The details are still sketchy at this point as the Army is still investigating because this happened on base. All we know at this point is that some sort of minor altercation, possibly with a superior, was the breaking point for him and he disappeared only to be found dead several hours later. Whatever it was that he was going through, he was masterful at hiding it.
I lost my best friend and gaming buddy, his family lost a great son/uncle/brother, and the United States lost one hell of a damn fine soldier. He certainly is not the first service member to take their own life, and he certainly won't be the last. This is an epidemic that seriously needs to be addressed in this country.
If there are any current or former military reading this, get help with any demons that you're battling. Once you're back stateside, the war is over for you and it's ok to ask for help coming to terms with everything. It's not a weakness. It's not a weakness.
On Friday, April 22, my best friend and U.S. Army EOD tech Jacob Clark decided to end his own life. I'll never know what sort of personal demons that he was battling led him to this decision, or what we as his friends could have noticed and done differently. After he returned home from Afghanistan about a year and a half ago, everything seemed pretty normal with him, except maybe his sense of humor had gotten slightly darker and he had some choice opinions of the native population over there. All I do know is that he wasn't too keen on talking about his experiences over there save for some of the on base antics when him and his buds were bored.
The details are still sketchy at this point as the Army is still investigating because this happened on base. All we know at this point is that some sort of minor altercation, possibly with a superior, was the breaking point for him and he disappeared only to be found dead several hours later. Whatever it was that he was going through, he was masterful at hiding it.
I lost my best friend and gaming buddy, his family lost a great son/uncle/brother, and the United States lost one hell of a damn fine soldier. He certainly is not the first service member to take their own life, and he certainly won't be the last. This is an epidemic that seriously needs to be addressed in this country.
If there are any current or former military reading this, get help with any demons that you're battling. Once you're back stateside, the war is over for you and it's ok to ask for help coming to terms with everything. It's not a weakness. It's not a weakness.
THE HERO WE LOST 
Suicide is a very disturbing thing that's currently plaguing not just our service men and women, but regular Americans as well. I can't begin to express the many times I've gone down that road myself when I was in that dark place for so long, but it's not something that anyone should have to suffer through.
I'm here if you need someone to talk to.
Suicide is serious issue and it always hits the people that stay behind like a hammer.
It seems clear that he was a very special guy and pretty decent person. I'm sure the hole in your heart must be enormous right now..
I only hope that the pain off his loss will be replaced with joy when you think of him in the future.
And feel free to hit me up if you want to vent, talk or even game a bit. *hugs*
With that said though, same goes to you dude, you've had some incredibly shitty luck.. If you ever need to talk with someone about it, you know where to find us :)