(CNN) It started with a simple question.

"How has serving impacted you?" the US Army asked on its Twitter account days before Memorial Day.

What came next was unexpected and heartbreaking. The tweet prompted a slew of gut-wrenching replies from veterans and their family members, including accounts of living with post-traumatic stress disorder and stories of suicide.

One such response came from college professor Lacy M. Johnson.

"My cousin committed suicide while on duty at the armory after coming home from a tour abroad," Johnson said. She later tweeted that she did not want to speak to journalists about family's experience.

My cousin committed suicide while on duty at the armory after coming home from a tour abroad. — Lacy M. Johnson (@lacymjohnson) May 25, 2019

Kristen L. Rouse, founding director of the NYC Veterans Alliance , told CNN Monday the tweets showed that veterans haven't been and need to be heard.

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