War is awful.
Men and women putting their lives on the line for the freedoms we enjoy. Sadly, many suffer terrible injuries and bear visible scars for the rest of their lives. But some return with hidden injuries, injuries that become deadly.
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common among returning service personnel. The ultimate expression of PTSD, suicide, is becoming more common. No man or woman who risked their lives for our country should die by their own hand ever.
Zack Potter was one of these casualties of war.
"He took his life on January 9th 2014, so we're coming up on 2 years and he shot himself," said Potter's father, Tim.
Zack Potter enlisted after 9-11.
"He felt a pull join the military and do something to help protect us," his father said.
Zack was 20 and in college at the time. The day after he graduated in 2005 was his first deployment to Iraq where he spent a year. His father remembers he had changed after his return.
Zack remained stateside for a year and a half, then volunteered for a second tour.
"And he came back and he still seemed pretty good to me but then they were going to call him up a third time," Tim Potter said.
While Zach was preparing to deploy, his father said something drastic happened.
"He just broke down. When he got there, he couldn't report and he just became a mess -- they were aware he was having PTSD issues ...he has an honorable discharge but medically discharged," Tim Potter said.
Andrew Turner of Plymouth was deployed with Zack in 2005 and remains part of the Michigan National Guard.
"Zack was actually the third suicide within a small kind of veteran's community within the span of 1 year," Turner said.
It moved Turner to take action.
"Starting Veterans Refuge Network was kind of what came of Zack taking his life," Turner said.
The message is one of hope and awareness.
"You can get help and you can still lead a fulfilling life and you don't have to kind of suffer in silence. PTSD is the leading cause of veteran suicide and other mental health issues, our main goal is to eliminate the stigma that's associated with seeking help and make people aware of this issue," Turner said.
An important point that Zack's father echoes, "When he went off to war this was a kind of injury that I didn't even think about."
Find out more about Veterans Refuge Network here.