Wysh Project aims to help prevent suicides in the military | Forensic Files

my name is Andrew O'Brien I am an Iraqi War veteran and I attempted suicide after coming home from the
war now it had a lot to do with Iraq but it had a lot to do with my childhood as
well I felt like I didn't have a family no one to care for me I remember my mom being a stripper I remember her bringing
guys home all the time I remember living in hotel rooms or motel rooms I remember
her always telling me to be a man and stop crying when I was 8 years old and I remember I mean I remember all this
stuff and it was just all those memories coming in at one time on how rough my life was and how being raised with her
was so horrible and then doing Iraq and then so it all led to my suicide attempt I found out that in February of
2013 they released the suicides for um 2012 for veterans and it was 22 veterans a day and and one active duty Soldier a
day and so um I found out that we are actually killing ourselves more than the enemy is killing us in in war so I wrote
a book called welcoming your soldier home and after I wrote the book uh I decided I was going to tell my story of
my suicide attempt and to kind of help people feel normal cuz I felt like I was alone whenever I attempted and uh so I
told my story went on YouTube got my first invite through Twitter to go speak in New Orleans and after that I met this
mother who just lost her son to Suicide he's 21 years old I saw her crying and I
I decided I wanted to do something to stop families from having to go through this so the biggest thing that I say to
soldiers who are struggling like I did who are getting to that point of not knowing if they can live their life
anymore um it's that when you come home from war you're always going to be a different person and you're never going
to go back to the exact same person that you were before but this new person doesn't mean that you are a bad person
doesn't mean that you can you can't be someone good you just have to relearn yourself and relearn that this new
person is just a whole different person but you can still go on to do great things with your life take care of your
family and it does get better but you've got to get help

After a traumatic childhood and tour of duty in Iraq, Andrew O'Brien, Michele Williams' youngest son, attempted suicide. Andrew talks to "48 Hours" about how he is using his experiences to help fellow soldiers and their families.

Brief Summary

Andrew O'Brien shares his journey from suicide attempt to healing, emphasizing the importance of seeking help for veterans.

Key points

Andrew O'Brien's Story. Iraqi War veteran Andrew O'Brien shares his journey from suicide attempt to advocacy.

Episode quotes

I felt like I didn't have a family.

Andrew reflects on his childhood.

0:12WatchMay 4, 2014

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