The family of an Essex Junction Army veteran who took her life due to combat PTSD has started a scholarship to help women veterans receive advanced training in PTSD treatment.

Virginia (“Ginny”) Sweetser, grew up in Essex Junction. She graduated from the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, NY where she was a champion ice hockey player, and from Essex High School. She enrolled at UVM and, on 9/11, decided she would enlist in the Army Reserves. 

She was deployed to Iraq in 2004, headquartered at Forward Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit. She drove the HET vehicles in convoy throughout Iraq, positioning tanks and delivering supplies. 

She returned home fifteen months later and, like so many others, she struggled with what she had experienced. She went back to college and became part of the Vermont Army National Guard. She matriculated to St. Mike’s and then to the University of Missouri in Kansas City (UMKC) where she obtained both her undergraduate degree and her Master’s Degree in Social Work. She completed her mandatory clinical hours and became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Missouri and Kansas. 

She was a gifted therapist to many, specializing in Sand Tray therapy, working with sexual assault victims, even as she continued to struggle with PTSD. Tragically, she died by suicide in December 2020, during the continued pandemic shutdown, as a result of her combat-related PTSD. 

“After her death, so many soldiers and people Ginny had counseled reached out to us [her family] to share with us how Ginny had saved their lives. The only life she couldn’t save was her own”, said Susan Sweetser, Ginny’s mom and one of the founders for the Scholarship. “The scholarship was established in Ginny’s memory, to continue Ginny’s good works and to help other women veterans get their advanced degrees. The focus is on those who want to work with people struggling with PTSD”, said Sweetser. 

The scholarship is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit. Its website is: ginnysscholarship.org. More of Ginny’s story is located on the website. Anyone who wants to donate to the scholarship may do so on the website. 

In addition, the scholarship is kicking off with a raffle of a handmade Vermont quilt (the winner will be drawn on Veteran’s Day) and has opened the IGY6; store until December 2. 

Ginny created a TikTok shortly before her death about her struggle with PTSD. She ended the TikTok with IGY6; – a message she wanted to get out to so many. It means “I got your back” (IGY6) and the semicolon is for those with PTSD to remind them to take a pause, to remember that the deep pain they are suffering is only in the moment and will pass. 

Wearing the IGY6; message helps those struggling to know that they have support. All proceeds from the sale of the IGY6; items go to Ginny’s Scholarship. The scholarship is eligible for any workplace company match giving programs. 

To date, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation employee match and the J.P. Morgan Chase employee match have recognized Ginny’s Scholarship for company match dollars. The Scholarship will make its first award in early 2026.