Veteran says he picked up paper and a pen, not his gun

With suicides way up, Treasure Valley group works to aid veterans
Figures show that more than 20 former military members take their lives each day, a number that Warrior Pointe hopes to drastically reduce.
Idaho Statesman
BY ANNA WEBB
April 13, 2014

In the summer of 2012, U.S. Army veteran Reed Pacheco had his suicide all planned out.

He has four children. He didn't want to kill himself in the same house where they live. Finding an alternate place wouldn't be hard, he figured.

"We're in the land of open space and wilderness," Pacheco said.

Something else happened instead.

"I truly believe it was God," he said.

He picked up paper and a pen, not his gun. He wrote down a list of problems veterans face when they come home from military service.

"We call them our demons," he said. "Insomnia, drinking, broken relationships, remorse, guilt, unemployment, navigating the VA, suicide."

He picked up the phone and called his friends - fellow veterans.
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Apr 11, 2014
Reed Pacheco and Joshua Petersen, two members of Warrior Pointe, talk about the Treasure Valley group's efforts to curb veterans' feelings of isolation.