Medal of Honor to Ret. Lt. Col. Charles Kettles Vietnam Veteran

Obama presents Vietnam veteran Charles Kettles with Medal of Honor
CBS News
Jul 18, 2016

WASHINGTON -- Nearly five decades after helping rescue dozens of American soldiers pinned down by enemy fire, a Vietnam War veteran is receiving the nation's highest military honor for valor.

President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Lt. Col. Charles Kettles of Ypsilanti, Michigan during a ceremony Monday at the White House.

Kettles led helicopter flights carrying reinforcements to U.S. soldiers and evacuated the wounded after they were ambushed in combat operations near Duc Pho in May 1967.

Kettles repeatedly returned to a landing zone under heavy fire. He is credited with helping to save 40 soldiers and four members of his unit. During the final evacuation effort, he was advised that eight soldiers had been unable to reach the helicopters, so he returned without benefit of artillery or tactical aircraft support.
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President Obama Presents the Medal of Honor Published on Jul 18, 2016

In a ceremony at the White House, President Obama presents Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Charles Kettles, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry.

Veteran Marine Confrontation With Police Sign of Need For PTSD Training

Video shows Marine with PTSD in dangerous confrontation with police officers Could proper PTSD training for officers help avoid such violent arrests?
Click on Detroit
By Kevin Dietz - Reporter
Posted:June 27, 2016

A terrifying traffic stop caught on video shows a highly-trained and decorated war veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder squaring off with police officers.

The officers were armed with guns and Tasers. The confrontation ended with a trip to the hospital and jail.

The war veteran, Kirk Shahan, is a Marine who was shot at plenty of times on the battlefield while serving his country overseas. Now, back home, he was Tased during a violent traffic stop in the suburbs of Detroit.

Shahan knows all about war. He credits one American flag for his survival during tours in Okinawa, Iraq and Kuwait.

"I carried it in my flack jacket in case something ever happened, that way I would be buried with the U.S. flag," he said.

He saw plenty of death on the battlefield.

"Saw things people shouldn't see. I've done things people shouldn't have done. If I had done those things stateside, I would probably be in prison. Now, they throw a medal on your chest," he said.

Shahan carried his friends' bodies back to safe zones so they could have proper burials.
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Vietnam Veteran Lived After Police Officer Cared

If you think that anything is new with PTSD then you haven't been paying much attention. This article pretty much proves that one. It also proves that with all the talk about raising awareness, it is more talking about what they get wrong instead of the truth.

Veterans call for attention to 'invisible wounds'
Detroit Free Press
Curt Smith, Lansing State Journal
June 28, 2016

LANSING – In police circles it’s called “suicide by cop” and Kent Hall saw no other way out.

It was 1985, and the nightmares that had tormented him since his service with the Army in Vietnam would not go away. Although he doesn't talk about the day in detail, he describes it this way:

“I was saved by the actions of an officer,” he said Monday on the steps of the state Capitol. “And then I got a lot of help along the way.”

Marine Corps veteran Rod Thayer (from left) and Army veterans Dale Brown and Bruce Whipple stand for the singing of the national anthem by The Old Skool Fella's at a rally Monday at the state Capitol called "Visible Honor For Invisible Wounds." The event was designed to bring attention to the challenges veterans have when struggling with post traumatic stress

(Photo: Robert Killips | Lansing State Journal)

Today, Hall of Williamston is vice president of a small veterans advocacy group called Honor for All. The core mission of the Royal Oak-based group is to erase stigmas attached to the term “post-traumatic stress disorder."

Its members want the word “disorder” dropped and replaced with the term “injury.” Hall likens the condition to a wound of the arm or leg — invisible but just as debilitating.

Hall didn’t die on that day 31 years ago, but his struggle didn’t either.
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The article talks about "22 a day" and the event publicized that even though it is not even close to reality. It also talks about calling PTSD "PTSI" for injury instead. Do they really think that will make a difference at all? It won't.

They have been mulling the title around for decades and the wound is still the same wound. Veterans suffer the same way all the other generations did. The most sickening thing of all is that folks are getting famous off that suffering.

Would be great if they would stop talking about what they get wrong and then maybe veterans would trust then to help them heal for the right reasons.

Sgt. Marcus Lamarr Nelson Sr. Served "Loud and Proud" Died in Texas Jail

Soldiers remember sergeant who died in Bell County Jail
Killeen Daily Herald
David A Bryant
June 1, 2016

When Fort Hood officials released the name of a soldier who died May 23 in the Bell County Jail in Belton, those who served with him were both shocked he was in jail in the first place and devastated at the news.

Sgt. Marcus Lamarr Nelson Sr., 45, whose home of record is listed as Detroit, Mich., entered active duty service in April 2005 as a petroleum supply specialist. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division since June 2015.

The sergeant was being held on military charges of departing from his appointed place of duty, disobeying a lawful order from a noncommissioned officer, four counts of dereliction of duty and four counts of communicating a threat.

Nelson deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from October 2008 to September 2009 and from September 2006 to September 2007.

“I met him in January 2006 at (Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.) when I was 18,” said Josh LeBlanc, a veteran from Kountze, Texas, who deployed to Iraq with Nelson. “He was ‘loud and proud’ every morning and he was always upholding the standard. If you felt like ‘skating’ and getting out of doing things, he would still uphold the standards. That’s what he was known for.”

LeBlanc said Nelson was not only a great soldier, but an amazing person.

“He really taught me a lot about being a good person,” he said. “I was really shocked to hear about his death. I’m torn up about it.”
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Retired Navy SEAL Gets New Teammate, PTSD Service Dog

Service dog, retired Navy SEAL a partnership a year in the making
WWMT 3 News
by Kate Tillotson
May 19th 2016

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Sometimes a dog is more than just a companion for wounded warriors.

In this case, it's a partnership a year in the making, between a retired Navy SEAL and his canine. For nearly a decade, Lieutenant Jason Redman has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. He was shot at least eight times in a firefight in Fallujah.

While he's not in active combat anymore, Lt. Redman now has a new mission.

He travels extensively--even with his PTSD--with an organization for wounded warriors that he runs out of Virginia Beach.
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Still Missing Veteran Alert Michigan

Michigan family seeks help in search for missing Marine vet
Marine Corps Times 
Matthew L. Schehl 
April 19, 2016

Geoffrey Michael Bowen was last seen by his wife on March 31 at his home in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo: Courtesy Kenneth Bowen)

Police and family are urgently asking for help locating a Marine vet missing for two weeks.

On April 1, the sheriff’s office in Jackson County, Michigan, issued a missing person alert for Geoffrey Michael Bowen, who was last seen by his wife on March 31 at his home in Brooklyn, Michigan.

“[Bowen] is 5 feet 10 inches, 175 pounds with short brown hair and a short brown beard,” police said in the alert. “He was last seen driving a 1989 Ford Bronco dark blue in color with white stripes. It has a Michigan Marine veteran license plate with the registration of OLCC7.”

Bowen joined the Marines as a rifleman in December 2005. He deployed to Iraq twice — once in 2007 and again in 2008. He left the service as a corporal in December 2009, according to Marine Corps officials. His brother said he served with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines.
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Was Veteran Released From VA After Standoff Too Quickly?

Female veteran in crisis enough to cause a seven hour standoff yet she was only in the VA for less than a week afterwards?

Standoff suspect charged after quick release from VA hospital
News Herald
Jon Stinchcomb, Reporter
April 15, 2016

After being taking into custody, Muirhead was taken to a Veterans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to receive treatment. She reportedly was released from the hospital within less than a week.

PORT CLINTON - The woman alleged to have caused a seven-hour standoff with police last week has been charged with two misdemeanors despite initial statements from police that charges would not be filed.

Melissa Muirhead, 30, of Port Clinton, was charged Thursday with one count of aggravated menacing and one count of inducing panic, both first-degree misdemeanors.

According to authorities, Muirhead is a military veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The Port Clinton Police Department and Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office previously responded to multiple calls to her home for similar welfare checks in recent years.

Because there were no injuries from the incident, Port Clinton police Chief Rob Hickman initially said he did not expect charges to be filed.

However, after detectives conferred with assistant prosecutor Dave Boldt, the two misdemeanor charges were filed in Ottawa County Municipal Court.

According to officers from Port Clinton Police Department, the hope is that the charges will result in some form of court-ordered treatment so an incident does not happen again.
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Veteran Lost Job After 3 Tours and a Cellphone Captured Words Said?

Video of altercation between Muslim teen, Marine in Coldwater goes viral was the headline from WWMT out of Michigan. Pretty much made me sick to think that after all these years of the military telling all of us that our servicemen and women are being trained to "prevent PTSD" along with "prevent suicides" what we see is all too often more suffering while we get excuses from Brass and politicians with jurisdiction over everything. They love to forget we noticed that is what their jobs are and what they get paid to do.

Ok, so this is the part that bothered me the most out of this whole ugly story. A family member had this to say.

"He claims the teens were mouthing off and his uncle reacted. He also says his uncle suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving 3 tours in the middle east--and a woman we spoke to says that's the name she knows."

If you know veterans, they say all kinds of things that they don't mean. Coming from a family of them, I cannot remember how many times I heard something stupid and that is from 3 generations of veterans. Thank God someone didn't pull out a cellphone every time you said something you shouldn't have said.  I know I do.

This veteran would have received all the training we were told would work to take care of them after combat.  They just failed to mention that none of it worked and the repeated deployments increased the risk of PTSD, which they knew, but ignored and sent them back over and over again.

With all that in mind, there is this veteran who said something he shouldn't have said after something happened to set him off. Because one of the "kids" pulled out a cellphone, this is what happened to him after 3 tours risking his life.

"As for the man in the video, his relative tells us he lost his job today because of the video."

I think you should watch the video now after you have that thought in your mind.  Is it fair to you? Click the link above and see what happened for yourself especially if you have a veteran in your family. 

Veteran Takes Lucky Shot Through Pair of Pants

Man shoots at guest, bullet passes through pants
Sheriff: suspect believed victim was intruder
Record Eagle
By Matt Troutman
March 29, 2016

The man served in the military and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, Borkovich said. He said authorities will reach out to a local veterans' center to get the suspect help.

TRAVERSE CITY — A Suttons Bay man could face firearms charges after authorities said he drunkenly shot at a partygoer leaving his home.

The bullet passed through the victim's pant leg, leaving him uninjured, said Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich. He said deputies responded to a call about the shooting early Tuesday, found the suspect — a Suttons Bay man, 27 — and arrested him.

The suspect apparently hosted guests at his home about a half-mile south of Suttons Bay for a night of drinking. Borkovich said the shooting occurred when the suspect thought someone was trying to break into his home.

"It wasn’t an intruder, it was somebody leaving the house," Borkovich said.
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Beaten and Left in Road, Family of Veteran Needs Help to Bring Him Home

Ex-soldier from Michigan dies after assault, family seeks help bringing him home
MLive
By Bob Johnson
March 10, 2016

NASHVILLE — A former U.S. Army soldier from Michigan has died after police said he was assaulted in Tennessee on Sunday, March 6.

Seth Brabant Seth Brabant (Courtesy | Sabrianna Espinoza)

Seth Brabant, 24, of Chesaning in Saginaw County, died on Thursday, according to officials at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.

Police said Brabant was discovered beaten on the side of a dirt road four days earlier. Stewart County Sheriff's Department has arrested a second man on attempted murder charges. Those charges are likely to change now that Brabant has died, an official at the sheriff's office said.

The man currently is being held on a $600,000 bond.

Brabant had only been "out of the Army for a couple of months," a family member told MLive.
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Michigan Lawmakers Start Own Charity Instead of Doing Their Jobs?

As you can tell, my head exploded when I read that elected officials would rather start their own charity than actually do something to help all veterans, but why would they do something like remember the others?

Lawmakers start nonprofit to help struggling veterans
WLNS Web Staff
Published: March 2, 2016

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Two lawmakers have announced a new nonprofit to help struggling veterans after the state’s Auditor General released a scathing audit unearthing problems at a state-run veterans’ nursing home in Grand Rapids.

Republican Rep. Tom Barrett and Democratic Sen. David Knezek announced the nonprofit Wednesday at a press conference.
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Seriously? This may sound like a good thing to do until you consider this.

"We have thousands of veterans who have gone and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now coming home," said Barrett, an Army veteran and National Guard reservist who served two tours in Iraq. "I've heard numbers as high as one in three combat veterans could be suffering from PTSD." Rep. Tom Barrett,
Detroit Free Press

Pretty much shows how little he knows about PTSD, all generations and the total lack of oversight on all the other PTSD Service Dog charities already out there.

Aside from National charities, here are just a few from Michigan.

Stiggy's Dogs
Service Dog in Training
Dogs in Honor
Pets for Vets

The truth is, service dogs are great, for some veterans, but not all of them and none of them are the answer to everything our veterans are going through.

Recently there was an Afghanistan veteran with a PTSD service dog, but he didn't get what he needed and took his own life. There have been many more like him. Far too many.

Service dogs are great for some veterans but not all veterans like dogs. Some are allergic to them. Some live with people who do not like dogs.

The worst thing in all of this is these two elected officials should actually be working on doing something for all of Michigan's veterans. That means the veterans they just don't want to remember suffered the same wounds and waited a hell of a lot longer for help. Top that off with the fact they are also the majority of the veterans committing suicide in this country everyday while legislators repeat the lie of "22 a day" forgetting about the other 50 or so that are not even mentioned.

VA Suicide Report has a lot of information in it however most,including legislators, missed the part about limited data from only 21 states leaving us with a clue as to what they actually do know is a lot less than what they guess at.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs Population Map Michigan has 658,469 veterans. WWII veterans 34,769 forgotten about. Korean War veterans, 59,711 veterans forgotten about. Vietnam Veterans, 237,675 forgotten about. Gulf War veterans, 155,754 forgotten about.

Maybe they should actually focus on this problem before they start their own charity.

As a result, Michigan ranks among the bottom five states for federal spending per veteran. Veterans' benefits can include health care, monthly disability checks, life insurance, home loans and education through the GI bill. Benefits at the state and local levels include vocational training and the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund.

Only 22 percent of Michigan's estimated 660,800 veterans used their health benefits from the U.S. Veterans Administration in 2013 — the most recent year for which data is available. Roughly 13 percent of Michigan veterans received disability checks, according to federal data.
Detroit Free Press

US Census Michigan Veterans

Now top all that off with the fact the uproar started over the report on nursing homes and you get the idea.

Army Ranger Double Amputee Running For Congress

W Mich. native running for Congress in Fla.
24 Hour News 8 web staff
Published: January 31, 2016

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A West Michigan native who lost both of his legs while serving overseas is now campaigning to represent part of Florida in Congress.

Brian Mast graduated from South Christian High School in Grand Rapids in 1999, after which he joined the U.S. Army. After more than 12 years in the service, he lost both of his legs in an explosion while serving as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan.

Now, he wants to represent Florida’s 18th Congressional District.

“I don’t know how I go through life and think that the best thing that I’ve done in my life is now in my past,” he told 24 Hour News 8 in a Facetime interview on Sunday. “Or the best defense that I’ve given our country is now behind me. And I told her that’s where I ultimately thought about running for Congress, hoping that the best would still be ahead of me.”

He was featured in an episode of “Live to Tell” on the History Channel. The episode aired Sunday night and was scheduled to air again at 2 a.m. Monday.
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Marine Veteran PTSD Service Dog Not Allowed in Gym

Column: Michigan gym owner shuts door on service dog
Lansing State Journal
Judy Putnam
December 24, 2015

Johnnie Trout’s daughter, Samara, 11, who was at the gym with him, pointed out a gym member with a prosthetic leg. She asked if he was going to be required to remove his leg.

Johnnie Trout and his service dog, Raven, were refused entrance to a Holt gym. (Photo: File photo)

The owner of a Holt gym expressed regret Tuesday that a veteran was refused entrance to her facility because he brought his German shepherd, a trained service dog, along for his workout.

With a new state law about to go into effect that makes it a misdemeanor to refuse access to service animals — and a federal law on the books for a quarter-century — it shows we have a long way to go to educate businesses about the animals.

Johnnie Trout, a Marine gunnery sergeant from Holt, said he was refused entrance Monday to the New Life Fitness gym in Holt with his dog, Raven. Trout got his dog in August to help with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Raven was trained by the Florida-based Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs. She's one of just five in Michigan given to veterans with service-related disabilities by the Guardian Angels.
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Community Finishes Dream Veteran Started

After Iraq veteran's death, a Thanksgiving gift
Lansing State Journal
Ken Palmer
November 25, 2015

Melanie Newcombe and daughter Teegan, 9, talk with members of Faith Works and Operation: Come H.O.M.E. in their house in Ionia on Tuesday. Newcombe's husband Brandon, a Marine, bought the house for the family to fix up and live in. Brandon died on May 16, 2014, but the two Michigan non profits teamed up to finish the work on the house. (Photo: Dave Wasinger/LSJ)

IONIA - Iraq war veteran Brandon Newcombe spent much of the last year of his life remodeling an old house in Ionia for himself and his family.

Before he finished, he lost his battle with the demons unleashed by post-traumatic stress disorder. Newcombe took his own life in May of 2014.

"There is so much blood, sweat and tears in this house," his widow, Melanie Newcombe, said on Tuesday in the newly refinished second level of the house, where she and her daughter, Teegan, 9, finally have their own bedrooms. "He worked from sunup to sundown on this house for us. He wanted Teegan and I and him to be in this house together."

Volunteers came together after Brandon Newcombe's death to finish the house. On Tuesday, they presented Melanie and Teegan with a gift card for furniture and a unique four-sided wooden plaque designed to preserve his memory. The plaque, made of Michigan maple and purple heart wood from Brazil, is designed to be taken apart to make two memorials.

"Tonight was part of the healing process, not just for me but for Melanie, Teegan and everyone involved," said Eric Calley, an Iraq veteran who had known Newcombe since high school and mentored him in Ionia County's veterans court. "(We) designed that plaque especially for Teegan and Melanie. When Teegan gets older and moves out of the house, she can take that with her in memory of her dad. When she comes back home, she can bring it back and make it whole again."
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Vietnam Veterans Life Turned Around After Court

Vietnam veteran recalls 'super drunk' arrest that turned his life around 
MLIVE Michigan
By John Counts
November 24, 2015

He was sentenced to 18 months of probation, but was put in touch with the Battle Creek VA for substance abuse treatment, as well as treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder. "They were more interested in helping me than punishing me," he said. "It was hard work. But it was stuff I could do. They didn't require anything."

Earl "Gunny" Christensen at his home in Holt Monday, November 9, 2015.
(Danielle Duval MLive.com)

Earl "Gunny" Christensen couldn't tell the Fourth of July firecrackers from incoming enemy fire.

So the Vietnam veteran drank. A lot.

On July 3, 2012, Christensen estimates he had about 20 whiskey drinks between noon and 10 p.m. while he was bar hopping in his hometown of Holt, near Lansing.

Christensen says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. "During the Fourth of July I got to get drunk to pass out. So I don't have to deal with all the fireworks and explosions."

Christensen went to four different bars. At the last bar, the bartenders wouldn't serve him. As he was leaving, he crashed into a parked car in the parking lot.

"I backed into somebody at a bar and I drove home," he said.

He recalls police showing up at his house and conducting the sobriety tests there, long after he was out of his vehicle. He blew a .218 percent and was arrested for "super drunk" driving.
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Marine From Virginia Dead After Gunfire With State Police in Michigan

Member of Marines dies after gunfire on Drummond Island
Associated Press
September 25, 2015

DRUMMOND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — State police say two federal agents were helping search for a missing member of the U.S. Marines when they exchanged gunfire with him on northern Michigan’s Drummond Island.

Hours later Thursday, state police found 38-year-old Aaron Andrew Furness of Woodbridge, Virginia, dead inside a remote cabin. Police say Friday the cause is under investigation.
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UPDATE

Marine died of self-inflicted wound after firing at agents on Michigan island
MLIVE,com
By John Tunison
September 29, 2015

MICHIGAN -- A 38-year-old U.S. Marine died of a self-inflicted injury after firing upon federal agents who were looking for him last week on Drummond Island

State police on Tuesday, Sept. 29 said an autopsy confirmed the cause of death for Aaron Andrew Furness, 38, of West Bloomfield.

Furness was a U.S. Marine gunnery sergeant based at Quantico, Va.

His obituary indicates he served 19 years in the Marines and was deployed for several months in 2007 and 2008 in Iraq.
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Michigan Firefighter-Iraq Veteran Killed After Targeted by Hit-and-run Driver

Newlywed firefighter and Iraq War veteran, 35, killed in 'deliberate' hit-and-run crash while collecting money for charity 
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and SNEJANA FARBEROV FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
9 September 2015

Dennis Rodeman, seven-year veteran of the Lansing Fire Department, was killed Wednesday while taking part in 'Fill The Boot' fundraising campaign
Police say Rodeman and a 22-year-old driver had some words before the firefighter was mowed down by a pickup truck
Witnesses said the driver of the pickup deliberately circled back and plowed into Rodeman as he was collecting money
Suspect was arrested after a foot chase; he is facing charges of murder and felony fleeing and eluding Rodeman had been a US Marine who served a tour of duty in Fallujah, Iraq; he and his wife of two months, Katherine, were expecting their first child

A Michigan firefighter and Iraq War veteran with a baby on the way has died after being deliberately struck by a hit-and-run driver while collecting donations for charity, according to police.

Dennis Rodeman, a seven-year veteran of the Lansing Fire Department, succumbed to his injuries at an area hospital Wednesday evening, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero said.

The 35-year-old Rodeman, who also served in the US Marines in Fallujah, Iraq, according to the mayor, was mowed down at around 3.40pm while taking part in the annual 'Fill The Boot' fundraising campaign benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the International Association of Fire Fighters.
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Fort Hood Soldier From Michigan Found Dead in Barracks

Midland County soldier found dead at Fort Hood 
MLive.com
Jessica Shepherd
August 11, 2015

SAGINAW, MI — A Texas military base has released the name of a Midland County soldier who was found dead Sunday, Aug. 9. Pvt. Robert J. Snear, 21, of Coleman was found unresponsive in his barracks on the base, according to information from the Fort Hood Public Affairs Office.

A cause of death was not immediately released. read more here

UPDATE
Fallen Michigan Soldier Returns To Hometown, Midland County

Senator Attempts To Undo Bad Discharges

Sen. Gary Peters introduces bill to ensure fairness for vets improperly discharged
WXYZ News
Aug 5, 2015

WASHINGTON (WXYZ) - U.S. Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan has introduced a bill that would ensure fairness to veterans who were improperly discharged.

Peters, along with Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana and Sen. Thom Tills, a Republican from North Carolina, introduced the bill Monday.

The administrative discharges are given due to behavior resulting from mental traumas such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI).
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Marine Veteran Spreads Buddy's Ashes From Pringles Can At Zoo

Marine Corps veteran completes final mission in memory of best friend 
UpperMichigansSource.com
by Rebecca Himmelstein
Posted: 06.13.2015

Mark asked Richard in his suicide note to spread his ashes in the hippo habitat.

A former scout sniper completed his final mission: saying goodbye to his best friend on Saturday

“I am leaving my best friend here today” said Richard. “It is another close to my life and it is another chapter ending, but Marines are all about mission accomplishment and my mission is done today.”

WALLACE -- Richard is a United States Marine Corps veteran. On Saturday, the former scout sniper completed his final mission: saying goodbye to his best friend Mark.

“Mark was my spotter” said Richard. “He was my best friend. Wherever I went in the Marine Corps, he followed.”

But it was not war that took Mark’s life. It didn’t happen in Fallujah where they were deployed, but in Tennessee where Mark lived with his wife.

“Two months ago I got a phone call that Mark committed suicide” said Richard. “He gave into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was too stupid to ask for help. It might be a hard thing to say, but I can say it because I suffer with P.T.S.D.”

Richard is leaving some of Mark’s ashes at the DeYoung Family Zoo in Wallace; a place that has special meaning to the Marines.

“Today is the first time Mark and I have come here and unfortunately he is in a Pringles can” said Richard.
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