The Story Behind
Founder & Executive Director,
Samuel Rock
One day, I went to check on a veteran friend who hadn’t shown up for his outpatient group session. I knew firsthand how dangerous silence can be — how heavy it feels when no one checks on you while you’re battling your own mind. That day reminded me of something I had lived through myself — and that no veteran should ever have to face alone.
I enlisted in the U.S. Army at just 17 years old as a Bridge Crew Member (12C), full of pride and purpose. At 18, I found myself deployed to Iraq. Within only a few months, the environment that was supposed to be about brotherhood and service turned into something very different. The unit I was assigned to became a source of abuse and trauma, something no soldier ever expects from their own.
After months of enduring it, I reached my breaking point and tried to take my own life. I was eventually medevaced — helicoptered to a C-17 out of Iraq — to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the U.S. military hospital in Germany where many wounded soldiers are treated after being evacuated from combat zones. My time in service was cut short — 11 and a half months in total — but the invisible wounds stayed with me.
I hid the truth for years, creating stories to protect myself from reliving that pain. But deep down, I carried the scars, every day feeling the pain, reminding me of those very long but short months. I still live with the pain every day — physically, emotionally, and mentally. The stress adds strain to me daily, my memory not functioning properly, or my legs going numb — all things I need to live with for the rest of my life. Immediately, I didn’t know where I fit in, not feeling like a veteran nor a civilian. I felt like an outsider after getting out — lost.
It wasn’t a combat MOS, but Habbaniyah, Iraq, was a combat area. I wasn’t in long enough to understand if I was considered a combat veteran or not. That confusion only added to the isolation — wondering where I truly belonged after everything that had happened.
There’s no Purple Heart pinned on my chest, but the Military Order of the Purple Heart recognized my struggle and stood beside me. They cared enough to see the man behind the paperwork, to acknowledge the situation that had hidden what really happened. That validation — that belief — was a turning point.
From that pain came purpose.
I founded Battle Buddy Response Team® so that no veteran would ever feel forgotten, silenced, or alone again. What began as one veteran checking on another has grown into a nationwide movement dedicated to serving veterans and their families, offering hope where it’s needed most, and standing beside those who feel like giving up.
I built this organization because I know what it’s like to be on the edge — and I know how much it means when someone shows up.
This is my mission. This is my life’s work.
—Samuel L. Rock
