A man fatally stabbed on the Appalachian Trail early Saturday was hiking to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder after serving Army deployments in Iraq, his family told CNN.

Ronald Sanchez, 43, of Oklahoma was among a group of four people camping along the trail in Virginia when, authorities say, 30-year-old James Jordan began harassing them and attacked with a knife. Sanchez died at the scene while another hiker was left severely injured.

To survive those deployments in Iraq and to die like this is just devastating, his former wife, Elizabeth Kordek, told CNN .