Throughout bootcamp, pride, espirit de corps, and love of The Corps were ingrained into us in bootcamp. Always faithful to God, Country, and Corps. Once a Marine always a Marine; as long as the Corps lives on you live on. Really, we are immortals among mere men!

I went to a MilCity event here in San Antonio where someone I met encouraged me to put in a claim for my hearing loss. She said I deserved it for my service tot he country and acknowledged that Marines seem to be the hardest to convince when it comes to documenting ailments and injuries while on active duty and definitely once in civilian life.

By happenstance, I met a medical professional whose job while in the military was to review medical records of transitioning service members. When she found out I was a Marine, she told me of how many times she discovered that Marines who were wounded but there was nothing in their records. She said there was a Marine she helped who had a broken leg yet no record of it. She said Marines are a different breed. My objective is not to brag about how tough Marines are–truly.

At the start of the summer, the name of a Marine popped into my mind. I sent him a text asking how he was doing, and I received a reply that he was alive–an innocuous that I did not think twice of.

After getting out of the Marine Corps, he went to college and earned two bachelors degrees. He is a professional who relocated a couple of times, and was doing really well–staying in touch with friends and former Marines; doing well in his career.

Weeks passed and I sent several text without any reply. I thought he must be busy traveling the way he always does in the summer. We’ve kept in touch all these years so I knew that he spends his summer traveling across the country visiting other veterans with whom we served. He attends every reunion event. Eventually I received a group text from him.

“he shot himself in the stomach and heart”

The text apologized for not replying to everyone on the group. He went on to state that the day before I texted him, he shot himself in the stomach and heart–the bullet missed his heart. The text message I received from him telling me he was alive had a whole new meaning.

Here is one of the toughest Marines I have ever known, telling us he couldn’t take it anymore. Luckily he was found and transported to the hospital. He was unable to contact anyone after the incident because he was receiving treatment at a VA hospital, and after being released he has been in a VA therapy group.

I remember he once suffered a broken jaw and had to have his mouth wired shut and placed on a liquid diet; he was hit by shrapnel in another incident, he is one of the toughest Marines I know, a Black Boot Marine, an Immortal.

As long as the Corps lives on, we live on, but don’t go early.

” All sorts of service-related issues lay dormant only to crop up later in life, says Ron Stark. Stark founded Moving to Zero in San Diego, where he counsels fellow veterans who have contemplated suicide” (VA Struggles To Unlock The Reasons Behind High Suicide Rates Among Older Veterans).

The article goes on to mention the suicide rates among veterans, and some risk factor–isolation, previous suicidal thoughts, and access to firearms. My friend is single, the fun bachelor with this trusty and faithful companion–his dog.

I suppose the warning signs were there; his dog just died, and I did not see him travelling this summer the way he always does. The good thing is he survived and is getting help at the VA. The point of my story is that you just never know–I didn’t know.

To end, here is a link to veteran crisis resources https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/veterans/