Fallen Brothers

[Higgins86]

Quite a few Vets on here so I figured some of you lost friends on deployment. How do you remember them and do you find that you carry them with you?

Met up with some old boys today to remember a friend Danny Wilson ( rank Kingsman) who died from hostile fire on our tour in Iraq. We have made it a point to meet up at least once a year and remember him via beers and stories. Its been nearly 10 years now but we still get a lot of guys turn up which is fantastic and its a great way for us all to keep Dannys spirt alive.

Do any of you do anything similar?

 

[braindrain]

Quite a few Vets on here so I figured some of you lost friends on deployment. How do you remember them and do you find that you carry them with you?

Met up with some old boys today to remember a friend Danny Wilson ( rank Kingsman) who died from hostile fire on our tour in Iraq. We have made it a point to meet up at least once a year and remember him via beers and stories. Its been nearly 10 years now but we still get a lot of guys turn up which is fantastic and its a great way for us all to keep Dannys spirt alive.

Do any of you do anything similar?

One of my buddies was a really big cross fit guy. Some of the guys from his team created a cross fit workout in his name and every year on the anniversary or as close as I can make it I do his workout.
The work out is the Dae Han and the work is a pretty big smoker.

 

[Gathomas88]

Quite a few Vets on here so I figured some of you lost friends on deployment. How do you remember them and do you find that you carry them with you?

Met up with some old boys today to remember a friend Danny Wilson ( rank Kingsman) who died from hostile fire on our tour in Iraq. We have made it a point to meet up at least once a year and remember him via beers and stories. Its been nearly 10 years now but we still get a lot of guys turn up which is fantastic and its a great way for us all to keep Dannys spirt alive.

Do any of you do anything similar?

I actually haven't lost any of my buddies to combat (that I'm aware of, at least). Everyone I'm aware of who was lost died shortly after arriving home.

A classmate of mine from military college left school, joined the Marines, and married young to his highschool sweet heart. He did a tour in Iraq in the late-mid 2000s. His wife divorced him when he got back, and he put a gun in his mouth. He was always kind of an intense and somewhat unstable guy (5'4", 'red neck,' feisty as Hell, Greek, by ancestry, and damn proud of it), but I was still surprised to hear it.

My roommate from Intel school was killed before he even finished demobing after getting home from Iraq in 2010. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it seems that he got into some kind of altercation with a family member outside of the barracks. They stabbed him in the neck, and he bled out before he could find someone to help him. He was an African American, from Detroit originally, and a rather rough background. Nice guy - Athletic, but nerdy, awkward, and really quiet.

One of my roommates from Basic (a combat medic) was wounded by gunfire in Afghanistan a few years back. Last I heard, however, he was back in the states recovering, and doing just fine. We didn't really get along (he was an outspoken Liberal, highly critical of the wars, but not above taking an Army paycheck, and I'm... Well... Me lol ), so I haven't kept up with him much besides that.

 

[Higgins86]

I actually haven't lost any of my buddies to combat (that I'm aware of, at least). Everyone I'm aware of who was lost died shortly after arriving home.

A classmate of mine from military college left school, joined the Marines, and married young to his highschool sweet heart. He did a tour in Iraq in the late-mid 2000s. His wife divorced him when he got back, and he put a gun in his mouth. He was always kind of an intense and somewhat unstable guy (5'4", 'red neck,' feisty as Hell, Greek, by ancestry, and damn proud of it), but I was still surprised to hear it.

My roommate from Intel school was killed before he even finished demobing after getting home from Iraq in 2010. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it seems that he got into some kind of altercation with a family member outside of the barracks. They stabbed him in the neck, and he bled out before he could find someone to help him. He was an African American, from Detroit originally, and a rather rough background. Nice guy - Athletic, but nerdy, awkward, and really quiet.

One of my roommates from Basic (a combat medic) was wounded by gunfire in Afghanistan a few years back. Last I heard, however, he was back in the states recovering, and doing just fine. We didn't really get along (he was an outspoken Liberal, highly critical of the wars, but not above taking an Army paycheck, and I'm... Well... Me lol ), so I haven't kept up with him much besides that.

Yeh its shocking the amount of guys who die later on or struggle to live. Yet we have no medals for them.

One of my best friends did 4 tours in Afghan, he used to be the life of the party but nowadays he finds himself divorced and unable to stand in a middle of a room. Now not many people notice this about him but I do, he will literally find a wall and stand against it so he knows nothing is coming from behind. He did some horrible tours in the Helmand when us Brits lost a lot of guys, he's just never recovered.

 

[Higgins86]

One of my buddies was a really big cross fit guy. Some of the guys from his team created a cross fit workout in his name and every year on the anniversary or as close as I can make it I do his workout.
The work out is the Dae Han and the work is a pretty big smoker.

I like that a lot. Plus he's still kicking ur backsides from beyond the grave.

 

[Gathomas88]

Yeh its shocking the amount of guys who die later on or struggle to live. Yet we have no medals for them.

One of my best friends did 4 tours in Afghan, he used to be the life of the party but nowadays he finds himself divorced and unable to stand in a middle of a room. Now not many people notice this about him but I do, he will literally find a wall and stand against it so he knows nothing is coming from behind. He did some horrible tours in the Helmand when us Brits lost a lot of guys, he's just never recovered.

Yeah. PTSD's an absolute bitch.

I'm not sure, but I think that might have been a factor in the suicide I mentioned as well.

 

[Higgins86]

Yeah. PTSD's an absolute bitch.

I'm not sure, but I think that might have been a factor in the suicide I mentioned as well.

No honour in PTSD and that is on the military as much as the government. Soldiers need to know that its ok to open up and they need a direct point of access. My friend I talked about wont seek help because another mutual friend lost his legs in Afghan and is doing fine. He almost see's it as an insult to him even though what he went through was probably juts as traumatizing as losing your legs, the difference is he didn't have around the clock assistance.

 

[Goshin]

Quite a few Vets on here so I figured some of you lost friends on deployment. How do you remember them and do you find that you carry them with you?

Met up with some old boys today to remember a friend Danny Wilson ( rank Kingsman) who died from hostile fire on our tour in Iraq. We have made it a point to meet up at least once a year and remember him via beers and stories. Its been nearly 10 years now but we still get a lot of guys turn up which is fantastic and its a great way for us all to keep Dannys spirt alive.

Do any of you do anything similar?

Not military. Former LE.

Lost a shiftmate one night, very suddenly. We'd worked closely together and had a rapport, maybe the beginnings of a real friendship. Then bam, she was shot dead facing down an EDP with a gun.

Still think of her often. Sometimes speak of her when I run into another old shift-mate.

 

[Higgins86]

Not military. Former LE.

Lost a shiftmate one night, very suddenly. We'd worked closely together and had a rapport, maybe the beginnings of a real friendship. Then bam, she was shot dead facing down an EDP with a gun.

Still think of her often. Sometimes speak of her when I run into another old shift-mate.

sSorry mate ignorant Brit, what's an LE?

 

[Goshin]

sSorry mate ignorant Brit, what's an LE?

Oh, sorry, I went all acronym.


Law Enforcement.

 

[Higgins86]

Oh, sorry, I went all acronym.


Law Enforcement.

US Law enforcement must face similar problems with PTSD as the military? I remember when I was living in Hampton NH and this guy a chief Maloney ( google him he was a cool guy) got shot dead 2 days from his retirement. Shocked the whole community. But I remember being in the area and thousands of police turned up for his funeral and it blew me away because it was the first time I looked at the Poilice as a group of brothers like that. Actually humbled me a little bit because I had always been a little harsh on the Police.

 

[Hawkeye10]

Yeah. PTSD's an absolute bitch.

I'm not sure, but I think that might have been a factor in the suicide I mentioned as well.

My wife just barely got on the plane, and when she got back she could not leave the sofa for the first month. She had just gotten picked up for SGM too but man she had to get out.