Veterans Services

In 2010, Troy Bragg, a post-9/11 veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, discovered he was the biological father of a daughter and immediately filed a petition for paternity on his own. His petition was granted, and he and his daughter’s mother reached a mutually agreeable parenting plan and time-share agreement. The judge’s order provided Bragg with majority time-share, which was successful for 10 years. But in August 2019, the girl’s mother began to take from Bragg’s time with their daughter and tried to alienate her from Bragg.

“Julia,” 26, a U.S. Army veteran and mother of three, became pregnant and moved to Jacksonville to begin a new life with children, her partner and their soon-to-be-born child. But with the stress of the pandemic, cracks appeared in their relationship. After being with her for their baby’s birth, the father told Julia that he was going to take the baby to see his parents, who were visiting from out of town. Julia agreed. But it turned out that the baby’s father was in fact headed out of state with the baby. When she begged him to return, he refused.