By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged
A Glock 19 handgun on his lap, the decorated combat veteran prepared to take his own life.
“I’m telling you, I was going to become a statistic,” retired Air Force Lt. Col. Damon Friedman said.
Every day, an estimated 22 U.S. veterans die by suicide. Friedman, a special warfare officer who served four tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, intended to join them.
“I had a round in the chamber, and Satan was whispering all those lies in my ear,” he recalled.
The taunts sounded like this: “Damon, you’re worth a million dollars dead, and you don’t have to come home anymore with all your anger. You don’t have to tear down another door or punch in another wall. Everybody would just be better because the monster’s not home anymore.”
But then — on that dark day in 2010 in his Florida living room — Friedman heard a different voice. This one, he’s certain, belonged to God.
“I’m not a charismatic. I’m not a Pentecostal. That’s not derogatory — I’m just not,” Friedman said. “I’m a conservative believer, a Christian, a sinner saved by grace. And I heard the Lord.
“And he said, ‘I have plans for you. I have great plans for you to win and persevere, not to lose.’ And that’s when I put the gun down. And I said, ‘God, I need help.’”
This story appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.
Photo provided by Damon Friedman
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 