This week’s Urban Valor episode features Army Sergeant First Class, Umar 
Arrastia. As of this interview, he’s served 23 years in the National Guard with the last 13 years being on active duty. Umar talks about his experience in the Army and being overseas in combat, however, he wanted to speak mostly about his late son, Jibreel Arrastia, who passed away in 2020 while enlisted in the Navy. Umar was out celebrating the completion of a course he attended for the Army when he received a phone call from his wife telling him Jibreel had taken his life. 

This tragic incident left Umar seeking answers to what drove his son into such a dark place with no clear signs of him being in distress.

Veteran suicide is of course a very important and serious topic and one that is of course, very difficult to discuss. If you are someone you know is suffering from veteran PTSD, mental health, depression, or self-harming thoughts, please seek help.  There's no shame in asking for help, it's the most courageous thing you can possibly do in a moment of need. 

Military PTSD is very real and affects far more veterans than people realize.

Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you need someone to talk to, and just want to get things off your chest privately. We are here for you. 

We are honored to have sat down with Army Sergeant First Class, Umar Arrastia, thank you, brother! 

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