Jeff Lucey's parents fight to save lives after his suicide

Lucey family of Belchertown honors their late son by campaigning for veterans services
Published: Friday, November 25, 2011
By Fred Contrada, The Republican

File photo by Don Treeger / The Republican
Joyce T. and Kevin P. Lucey sit in their Belchertown home in 2009 with a picture of their son, Jeffrey, who hanged himself shortly after returning home from active duty in Iraq with the Marines.

Veterans Day is a bittersweet holiday for many, as they celebrate the soldiers who served America and mourn those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

For Joyce and Kevin Lucey there’s nothing sweet about it.

The Belchertown couple lost their son Jeffrey to a war that is only recently being talked about, a war many veterans wage with themselves in the America they return to. Jeffrey Lucey was 19 when he enlisted in the Marines out of Belchertown High School in 1999. He shipped off to Iraq in 2003, after the World Trade Center bombing had led to war in that country. He returned after a turbulent tour of duty there and hanged himself in his parent’s Belchertown home in June of 2004 after an equally turbulent period of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was 23.

Since then, Joyce and Kevin Lucey have worked tirelessly to help change the lot of veterans who come home still at war with themselves. Most recently, the couple traveled to New York City on the Monday before Veterans Day to tell their son’s story at an event organized by Services for the Underserved. The non-profit group’s mission is to provide assistance for veterans battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, struggling to find homes and jobs, trying to reassimilate with their families and fighting the urge to kill themselves.
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