Imperial Valley College honors Veterans

Spreading awareness on Veterans who struggle - News 11's Wiley Jawhary reports

IMPERIAL, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Imperial Valley College (IVC) on Wednesday hosted an early Veterans Day gathering to honor those who've bravely served their country.

The event recognized active duty service members, veterans, and those who support them.

Justin Pirrie, the Chief Operation Officer of Reps 4 Vets, came to educate the public on the struggles some veterans experience.

Reps 4 Vets works with veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, and mental health disorders.

“22 Veterans a day on average commit suicide and our mission at Reps 4 Vets is to reduce that number,” said Pirrie.

Pirrie says his group has been able to save lives when they're able to react a vet in time. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case. He says Reps 4 Vets tries to help veterans before it reaches that point.

"We aim to give them an outlet to where we don't allow these things to build up and suicide becomes an option," he said. "We offer a preemptive outlet for those veterans, a place where they could replace those feelings where they miss the time in uniform, and you can really only understand this in their shoes."

Reps 4 Vets urges anyone in need of such support to reach out.