James Ellis Threadgill, 36, was born July 13, 1980 in Dumas, TX. He was a 1998 graduate of Corinth High School and Itawamba Community College with an EMT- Basic. James served in the US Army as a Medic, having received Army Commendation Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Valorous Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, and Iraq Campaign Medal. He was working with Team Rubicon.
Arrangements: Memorial Funeral Home, Corinth, Mississippi.
Shared from Junior Miss Northridge Magnolia Mississippi – Samara Ozbirn
“Today being Memorial Day I thought it would be a good day to announce my Platform. My Platform will be Veteran Suicide. Here is why I choose this platform:”
“My Uncle Jimmy was a very nice man. When we didn’t have a lot of money for things we needed he would lend it to our family. When my family was fighting for my safety he would sit in court with my mom and dad. He was always there to help our family through rough times and we were there for him. He was a very selfless man and always thought of others before himself.
He wanted to help people so much that he joined the army. When he was in Iraq he saw some terrible things that no one should ever see. He came out of the army with PTSD and a Traumatic Brain Injury. The things he saw traumatized him, and this caused him to be suicidal. He tried to commit suicide many times. My mom tried really hard to keep him alive for many years. When he was feeling down she would go see him. Each time he tried to commit suicide, I know my mom would go to be with him. She loved her best friend. I never really realized how sad he was until the day that my mom got the call that he had committed suicide. I heard her screaming cries and ran downstairs to her covering her face saying “What happened? What happened?” I thought it might be her grandmother or grandfather. I didn’t know it would be my Uncle Jimmy.
When he killed himself it felt like my whole world had fallen apart and exploded. I felt a lot of emotions – I was sad, then I would feel angry, and then I would just feel like my heart was heavy to the point it felt hard to breathe. My life would be changed forever. I wanted to know why he did this, because he hurt my family – something I trusted him to never do. I use to struggle with suicidal thoughts from my abuse when I was younger and he always helped me through it.
I have learned from my uncle’s suicide that he killed himself because of the pain he was suffering from the war. After you have been in a war I have learned, you don’t always get to leave the war and stop seeing all the traumatic events of war. I am glad now that he has some peace. I also know that had there been better ways to help him he might have found that peace here and never left us. So I want to raise awareness for the #22ADay. That is how many Veterans we lose every day to suicide. I didn’t know that until my uncle died. So I have decided while I am Miss Junior Northridge Magnolia Mississippi I will raise awareness for this cause in any way possible. I hope the community will help me with this mission by supporting my events!”
#22toomany #OurHeroes are #NeverForgotten
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