Help Me Help My Veteran Friend Get Back on Track

First off let me say thank you for reading this. Secondly let me explain that I am not the disabled veteran. The veteran is a friend of mine, a very good friend. To be completely honest, he is much more than a friend, more like a brother. We've been pals for almost 19 years!   My “brother” is an Army veteran who served 3 tours of duty in Iraq. That's around 45 months in a war zone for those of you that who may not know. He was in a combat MOS (Job) 13B (Artillery). All and all he served about 9 years in the Army and left as a Staff Sergeant. Well right after his leaving the military everyone noticed a difference in him, which to be honest was expected. The adjustment from military back to regular civilian life would be a challenge for any one.   As time went on though, he never did really get adjusted back to civilian life. And it wasn't long after that he was diagnosed with PTSD. Now, he isn't a “ticking time bomb” waiting to explode and hurt other people. However, he's been consistently becoming more and more upset with his life, and become more and more self destructive, self hating.   He is fully qualified for veteran benefits but the VA (Veterans Affairs) has been giving him the run around for about 2 years now. Losing files, canceling appointments, taking months and months to get the paper work needed to complete his claim. He's currently having problems finding any work and is unemployed . Being “unemployable” when you're suffering with PTSD and filled with despair is quite a challenge. 22 veterans commit suicide a day.... A DAY!   So where do I come in and why am I asking for your help?   Well, I wont let my friend become a victim or part of the 22 a day. I live in SE Asia for almost two years now and my friend has mentioned for almost two years that he would like to come out here with me and open a business “if he gets his benefits”. We are both very entrepreneurial. Time goes on and his benefits seem as if they will take many, many months to get to him, maybe even years more. As the days pass he's becoming more and more negative and falling deeper into despair. And to be quite frank with everyone who's reading this, I'm very concerned.   So what am I asking of all of you out there? I'm asking you to help me help my friend. Businesses are pretty inexpensive in SE Asia and I would like to be able to get enough funding to put my buddy on a plane, have him come to Asia, where him and I will be together again just like old times! We'll start a little business together and he will :   A: Be Occupied Again B: Feel Self Worth Again C: Have Support Again D: Get Back Into the Game of Life Again   If I was financially able, I would do this for him myself but alas I'm not. If anyone is wondering why I am doing this for him, it's simply because he would NEVER do it for himself and he'd never ask anyone else to do it for him. This is why I haven't added any pictures of him or mentioned his name. If he found out, he would think I'm making him out to be a “charity case” and I think that would hurt his already fragile ego. But he needs help, he needs sympathy.   Again we are both entrepreneurial and have a “dream” of opening a business together. Whatever we do, whatever kind of business we open it will be successful.. In at least one way. If anyone can help my friend go on his next mission and get back in the game, I would be eternally grateful and with that you can be 100% positive that YOU ARE changing a persons life for the better! I am absolutely positive that something like this would turn his entire life around. I truly hope everyone can understand where I'm coming from. He is a good man, a good friend and a good person. I'm trying to do everything I can to help him.     Again, thank you kindly for reading this and anything you can do to help would be amazing!     Regards, Louis     X X X X Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000167 EndHTML:0000005476 StartFragment:0000000457 EndFragment:0000005460 First off let me say thank you for reading this. Secondly let me explain that I am not the disabled veteran. The veteran is a friend of mine, a very good friend. To be completely honest, he is much more than a friend, more like a brother. We've been pals for almost 19 years!   My “brother” is an Army veteran who served 3 tours of duty in Iraq. That's around 45 months in a war zone for those of you that who may not know. He was in a combat MOS (Job) 13B (Artillery). All and all he served about 9 years in the Army and left as a Staff Sergeant. Well right after his leaving the military everyone noticed a difference in him, which to be honest was expected. The adjustment from military back to regular civilian life would be a challenge for any one.   As time went on though, he never did really get adjusted back to civilian life. And it wasn't long after that he was diagnosed with PTSD. Now, he isn't a “ticking time bomb” waiting to explode and hurt other people. However, he's been consistently becoming more and more upset with his life, and become more and more self destructive, self hating.   He is fully qualified for veteran benefits but the VA (Veterans Affairs) has been giving him the run around for about 2 years now. Losing files, canceling appointments, taking months and months to get the paper work needed to complete his claim. He's currently having problems finding any work and is unemployed . Being “unemployable” when you're suffering with PTSD and filled with despair is quite a challenge. 22 veterans commit suicide a day.... A DAY!   So where do I come in and why am I asking for your help?   Well, I wont let my friend become a victim or part of the 22 a day. I live in SE Asia for almost two years now and my friend has mentioned for almost two years that he would like to come out here with me and open a business “if he gets his benefits”. We are both very entrepreneurial. Time goes on and his benefits seem as if they will take many, many months to get to him, maybe even years more. As the days pass he's becoming more and more negative and falling deeper into despair. And to be quite frank with everyone who's reading this, I'm very concerned.   So what am I asking of all of you out there? I'm asking you to help me help my friend. Businesses are pretty inexpensive in SE Asia and I would like to be able to get enough funding to put my buddy on a plane, have him come to Asia, where him and I will be together again just like old times! We'll start a little business together and he will :   A: Be Occupied Again B: Feel Self Worth Again C: Have Support Again D: Get Back Into the Game of Life Again   If I was financially able, I would do this for him myself but alas I'm not. If anyone is wondering why I am doing this for him, it's simply because he would NEVER do it for himself and he'd never ask anyone else to do it for him. This is why I haven't added any pictures of him or mentioned his name. If he found out, he would think I'm making him out to be a “charity case” and I think that would hurt his already fragile ego. But he needs help, he needs sympathy.   Again we are both entrepreneurial and have a “dream” of opening a business together. Whatever we do, whatever kind of business we open it will be successful.. In at least one way. If anyone can help my friend go on his next mission and get back in the game, I would be eternally grateful and with that you can be 100% positive that YOU ARE changing a persons life for the better! I am absolutely positive that something like this would turn his entire life around. I truly hope everyone can understand where I'm coming from. He is a good man, a good friend and a good person. I'm trying to do everything I can to help him.     Again, thank you kindly for reading this and anything you can do to help would be amazing!     Regards, Louis