Craziest thing. I was at Fleet Farm today to do "guy stuff" with a good friend of mine. I see the Oshkosh Northwestern rack and the front page is taken up by a huge pic of a funeral of an Army Captain who died in Iraq. Sad, I pick up the paper, and look it over, flip it over, and there's a head and shoulders of a guy that I know. Chad Simon. See, most Marines will understand this, when I enlisted, I did so on a 4X4 contract. 4 years in the fleet, 4 years active/inactive ready reserves. After my tour I stayed with the reserves for about a year and some change before I went IRR.
I clearly remember Chad Simon. I don't think he was ever in the fleet, but he was one hell of a Marine nonetheless. As I recall he served in Desert Storm with the reserve component. He was with my platoon there in Madison. Every damn weekend the guy would come with his game face on and was just...one hell of a Marine. The article indicated he was a SSgt and had three junior Marine with him on patrol outside Babil. And that is how I remember the guy. Always counseling junior Marines. Always taking them under his wing and teaching them the ropes.
Simon was hit by an IED. The side of the humvee he was on was hit and his seat was blasted out and fifty feet away. He took a piece of shrapnel in the head and was in a coma for nine months. His wife had his feeding tube removed after nine months of limited, or only autonomic responses. The article indicated that Simon (as well I remember him) was very explicit in his Living Will. He did not want to live in such a condition.
He left behind a wife and six year old son.
What a crazy thing. I haven't thought of the guy for probably five years, and suddenly I am jarred by a picture of him. The other day I posted up that I had heard this damn song that really moved me, thinking of the service men and women and their families, as well as the guys I had served with, both active and reserve. And then today I see this.
Wow...
Semper Fidelis
Rest in Peace, Simon, and may be the Lord be with your family.
Jason
I clearly remember Chad Simon. I don't think he was ever in the fleet, but he was one hell of a Marine nonetheless. As I recall he served in Desert Storm with the reserve component. He was with my platoon there in Madison. Every damn weekend the guy would come with his game face on and was just...one hell of a Marine. The article indicated he was a SSgt and had three junior Marine with him on patrol outside Babil. And that is how I remember the guy. Always counseling junior Marines. Always taking them under his wing and teaching them the ropes.
Simon was hit by an IED. The side of the humvee he was on was hit and his seat was blasted out and fifty feet away. He took a piece of shrapnel in the head and was in a coma for nine months. His wife had his feeding tube removed after nine months of limited, or only autonomic responses. The article indicated that Simon (as well I remember him) was very explicit in his Living Will. He did not want to live in such a condition.
He left behind a wife and six year old son.
What a crazy thing. I haven't thought of the guy for probably five years, and suddenly I am jarred by a picture of him. The other day I posted up that I had heard this damn song that really moved me, thinking of the service men and women and their families, as well as the guys I had served with, both active and reserve. And then today I see this.
Wow...
Semper Fidelis
Rest in Peace, Simon, and may be the Lord be with your family.
Jason
