Rest in Peace, Tyler Cone

A fellow Marine shared this on facebook: Rest in Peace, Tyler Cone.

It’s a story that’s unfortunately far too common. A returning vet taking their own life.

If you get a moment, read the short story of his life and try to think of a vet you know. Honestly, there’s almost no one who goes in who doesn’t come back changed and a little messed up.

Or, at least it’s almost always this way with the Marines that I know.

And partly it’s because things are so clear while you’re serving. You’re doing worthwhile work, you have the closest friends you’ll probably ever have, and things are simple. (Not always fun or easy, but certainly simple.)

And when you get out, the freedom and sudden lack of responsibility is a cold, hard slap in the face. You go from being a hero and doing something worthwhile to stocking shelves and dealing with some seriously immature and spoiled people, who just don’t get it. And you’re getting all these questions about what’s it like to serve and it’s just impossible to answer to someone who’s never been there.

Ack. It’s too complicated to get into without writing a novel. Please read about Tyler Cone (link, once again) and then share some love in the world.

To a vet, if you can, but since we’re impossible to approach or help sometimes, help someone who’s just hurting.

That stranger at the gas station who hasn’t taken a bath or shaven.

That weird friend on facebook who’s posting odd and scary posts on their timeline.

Hell, go give ten or twenty dollars to that woman or man who pulls up to a gas pump in a beat-up car and a look of desperation and fear in their eyes. 

Spread some love and good karma, friends. This world can be a cold, hard place.

Keep the faith,

Stan R. Mitchell

Oak Ridge, Tenn.

P.S. If you enjoy fast-paced books, you just might like my works. “Sold Out” tracks the life of a legendary Marine Sniper after a CIA unit decides to kill him for reasons of national security. “Little Man, and the Dixon County War” tells the uphill fight a young deputy faces after surviving three years of war only to find himself in the sights of a mighty cattle baron. And “Soldier On,” a short novel, follows the lives of several German soldiers in a depleted infantry company trying to make it through the final, miserable months of World War II.