In the Marines, Mathew Vieu found family, honor and the discipline he needed.
When he received his honorable discharge in 2012 instead of his third tour of duty to Iraq, it broke his heart, according to his older sister Crystal Dufresne.
“He was devastated when he couldn’t go over there with his buddies that he had fought twice with,” she said. “He was devastated and he kind of drank a lot.”
Vieu, 30, took his own life on Aug. 28, 2015.
A lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, Vieu received numerous awards including the Iraq Campaign Medal with two stars, Combat Action Ribbon with a gold star and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal.
In the year after his death, Vieu’s family and friends have come together to form The Mathew J. Vieu Memorial Fund, Inc., a nonprofit organization aimed at helping veterans in the Granby-South Hadley area.
“There are many, many service men and women that are suffering from this (post-traumatic stress disorder.) Our hope was to reflect upon Mat’s commitment to the Marines and try to help other people,” said Steve Nally, a Granby resident who considers Vieu a son.
Since the organization began in January 2016, Nally said it has been a “tremendous” success and that they’ve raised a significant amount of money.
The group also hosted a run in Vieu’s honor on his Sept. 4 birthday. With money in the group’s coffers, they are now trying to identify people who are in need.
“Our biggest problem right now is identifying people,” Nally said. “Someone said they are a proud bunch, certainly, and they are reluctant to ask for help when they need it.”
The help the nonprofit hopes to offer is wide-ranging.
“If it means buying a wheelchair, well fine, we’ll buy a wheelchair,” Nally explained. “If it means helping them with their rent for a month, or two, or three, or whatever it might be.
“Whatever circumstance, our standards are pretty open at this point,” he continued.
Steve Connor, director of the Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services, said there is a great need for help for veterans. He said over the years, the VA has stepped up the services it provides, but they are inundated with requests.
“It’s hard to explain what came first — the chicken or the egg — because we have a VA Hospital in our area, it called upon veterans to move here and be here,” Connor said. “It’s one of the reasons why my office here in Northampton is one of the busiest per capita.”
In western Massachusetts, veterans also have resources like the Springfield Vet Center in West Springfield and the Statewide Advocacy for Veterans’ Empowerment with an office in Holyoke.
Locally, Connor is working with Cooley Dickinson Hospital and private providers to train non-VA providers on how to identify someone who might be having an episode from PTSD or a traumatic brain injury so that the local provider doesn’t make a mistake when treating a veteran.
For Dufresne, the fund is a way to honor her brother, his service and bring attention to PTSD.
“I think it was important for us to get the message out there that this is something that is happening, this is real,” she said. “Hopefully through raising awareness, people can reach out and help those in need – those who have PTSD – and get them help and just be there for them.”
The fund, according to Nally, also helps bring to the light the goodness in Vieu.
A graduate of Granby High School, Vieu joined the Marines after graduation.
“He needed discipline. He needed someone to tell him what to do. I think he also felt honored to serve his country as well, that was a big part of it,” Dufresne said. “He wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than himself.”
Dufresne recalled Vieu wanting to join full time but she convinced him to join the reserves.
“I guess it was selfish of me but I didn’t want him away that long,” she said.
Dufresne remembers one of her brother’s military friends telling her that Vieu was always the point man, volunteering to go into locations first.
“He felt like they had more to lose and he felt that his life was disposable –compared to the other guys,” she said. “He protected his buddies while he was over there.”
Nationally, Vieu wasn’t alone with his PTSD. For service men and women who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, between 11 and 20 out of every 100 veterans have PTSD in a given year, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
In his death too, Vieu was among many. In 2014, an average of 20 veterans died from suicide each day. In that same year veterans accounted for 18 percent of all deaths from suicide among U.S. adults, although they only are 8.5 percent of the country’s population, according to the VA.
“On the outside he looked like he was fine,” she said. “He was always happy, he was always social, he always wanted to be around people so it was really hard to know what was going on inside because he hid that from everyone … he didn’t want anyone to see his pain.”
After he was discharged for medical reasons, Vieu struggled to hold a job. He would be fine for a while and then would drop off the map for a few days, according to Dufresne.
He went through treatment, sought help from the VA and for about 18 months he did well.
“He got engaged, he was really ready to run with it then he just back-pedaled,” Dufresne recalled.
In the weeks leading up to Vieu’s death, Dufresne said she didn’t see it coming.
“I mean, he had tried it the year before but I thought he was more stable but I also know when he’s not doing well because he doesn’t call,” she said.
Sitting around Nally’s kitchen table Wednesday night, Nally and Dufresne took turns speaking about Vieu. At times, the conversation became emotional as the pair remembered their brother, their son.
“I’m really proud of what Mat did for his country and for his family,” he said.
More information about the fund can be found on the The Mathew J. Vieu Memorial Fund, Inc. Facebook page or at www.mjvm.org/
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com