Family turns Memorial Day into mission to prevent veteran suicide

CHARLOTTE — A SouthPark family spent Memorial Day raising awareness for veteran mental health through an annual swim challenge benefiting Stop Soldier Suicide. For U.S. Marine veteran Matthew Ridenhour, the mission is personal after seeing fellow service members struggle in silence.

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“It’s important to be out here with friends and loved ones and supporters,” said Matthew Ridenhour, event organizer for Stop Soldier Suicide.

Stop Soldier Suicide started 16 years ago by connecting veterans and service members to much-needed resources.

“Swimming, itself, isn’t going to save anyone’s life,” Matthew Ridenhour said. “The idea is to bring awareness to the cause.”

The mission is personal for Ridenhour, who served in the Marine Corps for 11 years.

“I’ve been on the receiving end of 2 a.m. phone calls from my Marines, and I’ve known Marines who didn’t call anybody,” he said.

Many veterans struggle to ask for help after service ends, he said.

Veterans face a 58% higher risk of suicide than their civilian peers, according to Stop Soldier Suicide.

“There are veterans that are committing suicide every single day, and they are not reaching out for help and sometimes they don’t know where to go for help,” Matthew Ridenhour said.

Veterans and service members can seek help confidentially through Stop Soldier Suicide’s crisis hotline.

“We lose far too many people to suicide,” said Craig Ridenhour, the organization’s chairman of the Florida chapter. “Now it gets compounded when you talk about the military.”

Craig Ridenhour, who is Matthew’s brother, swims every summer to bring awareness.

“As a nation, we absolutely owe it to our veterans and military members to let them know that there are services there to support their mental health, help them through difficult times, and hopefully not get to that dark decision,” Craig Ridenhour said.

The brothers hope events like this start more conversations about the challenges many veterans face after their service ends.

Here’s a link to the fundraiser.

If you need mental health resources, visit the website or call 844-317-1136