A Brotherhood on Wheels: How Veterans are Riding to Heal
(InvestigateTV) — For many veterans, the return to civilian life is a battlefield of a different kind. The invisible wounds of service—depression, loneliness, and a sense of purposelessness—can lead to a dark and isolating road.
A 2023 study from the National Institutes of Health found that depression is a common mental health condition affecting former members of the military, often driven by combat experiences and the difficult transition back to a world that doesn’t always understand their sacrifice.
For Army veteran Reggie Curry, that road led to homelessness and despair.
“I pretty much gave myself a deadline,” he shares, his voice heavy with the memory. “That if I’m not able to get a job or get some type of purpose in my life, that it wouldn’t even be worth me being here.”
The day before his self-imposed deadline, the universe intervened. He stumbled upon an event hosted by Forgotten and Not Gone, a nonprofit founded by disabled veterans Peter and Kelley Guidry. The event featured recumbent trikes, and Reggie decided to take one for a ride.
“Immediately, I just felt like I had a purpose,” he says.
That purpose was shared by Peter and Kelley, who started the nonprofit after their own brush with the darkness of veteran suicide. Peter, struggling with his own demons, had also set a deadline. It was only when his VA psychiatrist recommended he get a bike that a new path opened up. The positive change was immediate.
“Within a month or so,” Kelley says, they saw a difference. They bought another bike, and then another, realizing they had found a powerful tool for healing.
Today, Forgotten and Not Gone brings veterans together for 22-mile rides, a number chosen to honor the estimated 22 veterans who die by suicide each day. The rides are more than just exercise; they are a rolling brotherhood, a space where veterans can connect, share their struggles, and find the camaraderie they’ve been missing.
“Our camaraderie is really what keeps me going,” Reggie says.
The Guidrys and the veterans they serve are open about their ongoing struggles. “A lot of people think that we have it all down pat, we’re fixed, we’re healed veterans, and that’s just not the case,” Peter says. But in helping others, they find their own strength. “I just refuse to be frozen in fear before I help my other veterans,” Kelley adds. “And by helping them, it’s helped me stay alive.”
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