Hey man, I both thank you for your service to this country, and I am very sorry for your loss. That's really too bad. I'm very sorry buddy.
But as for armor, your best bet is to try and find a used rubies set of armor on ebay. I've seen them go for pretty low, like $300 or so, so if you're not too set on detail or accuracy, that's the way to go. Making armor is time consuming especially if you're away from home a lot (mine took 6 months with working on the suit full time 2-3 days a week). But like I say to people; if I can do it, anybody can do it. I have no tech background like some people on here but I got my suit done. It all comes down to how fast you want it done, or how much time do you want to spend making your perfect suit. But then again, I'm sure there's people on here willing to sell their suits or copies of their suits..... either way I wish you luck in your build if you choose to build a suit OR I hope you can find a real score on ebay ,like I said I've seen some good ones!)
-Matt H