Warning: This story references suicide. Viewer discretion is advised.

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — One veteran has turned pain into a passion for helping others.

Former Army Spc. Michael Blount served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He says joining the military was one of the best experiences of his life. At the same time, it’s come with its share of challenges.

For Blount, enlisting in the Army was a calling.

“I’ve always been very patriotic ever since I was a kid,” he said. “I’m the only one in my since World War II to actually be in the military, and so for me, it felt like it was the right thing to do.”

Blount joined in 2006 at 20 years old.

Three months out of basic training, he was sent to Afghanistan.

“Not even in a full year yet, but it was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I got close to so many people.”

At the same time, during that deployment, he experienced, for the first time, a friend getting injured on duty.

“That’s your family. Your actual family is so far away that they can’t help you, and so knowing that they’re there to be, to have your back,” said Blount.

He’d experience that pain again in his second deployment, witnessing an attack on an Army vehicle directly behind him.

“I knew the people who got hurt; you know, those kinds of things just don’t go away,” said Blount.

It started his journey coping with PTSD, something that others he served with struggled with, too.

“For a while, almost there, twice a year, I’d get a phone call, or I’d see on my Facebook somebody had taken their life. One of my friends,” said Blount, holding back tears.

Guilt became a familiar feeling for Blount. He says some of his friends weren’t comfortable talking through their trauma.

“I’m tired of seeing it, and I wanted to do something to help,” he said.

Blount realized massages helped him with his PTSD symptoms, so he went to school to become a massage therapist. Offering services under Bootleg Bodyworks Massage Therapy, taking special care with friends and other veterans.

“It’s more of I’m there, you know. I’m there with you even if you don’t want to say anything. Someone’s there. I’m caring. You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to show anything. I’m just there in the room and hoping that it helps,” he said.

To this day, Blount says that when a buddy calls and needs to talk, he drops everything to take that call. He hopes that through massages, he can give them another path to relaxation and another opportunity to open up about how they feel.