Wow, is this a sad one. My sincere condolences to his family & friends.FYI....Chris used to post here at FR under the username M1Tanker
i just looked at the keywords. How very sad. Sending prayers to his family.
I’m sorry to hear of this. I love that site, too! Prayers for his family and friends.
This is so tragic. Prayers for his family. PTSD is very real. I know next door at Ft. Campbell they are having major problems with it. It got so bad back in June that they shut the base down for 3 days to do nothing but counsel troops.
This is so sad. Prayers to the family ... .
Why, why, why ... .
I see what he wrote ... however why did he do it?
He knew better ... why didn’t someone step in and lift him up?
On second thought ... maybe Someone did life him UP.
We exchanged a couple of posts late March. He gave me courage. I remember him and I remember his post.
Very sad news. I am sorry to hear this news but thank you for letting us know.
May God bless his family and hold them close during this difficult time.
Prayers up for his beautiful family. Sometimes we know the right thing to do, but have a damn hard time doing it.
Suicide sucks.
Why do we lose all the good people so early? RIP, sir...and thank you for your service.
Crushingly sad ping
I saw your family in his. I hope you’re all well.
Suicide is the ultimate selfish act. He had a wife and three children. What the hell was he thinking? I did my time in Afghanistan, came home and got on with my life. I’m proud of my Afghanistan service and have no regrets.
From one of the comments there in that article (and from link given above)...
Not even sure how to start this post, it’s all been a blur. As Scott described above it began with a simple “has anyone heard from Chris?” and it snowballed from there. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined it would end like this. The Chris I knew and befriended here on Flopping Aces, first as a commenter and then author when I asked him to come aboard on September 6th, 2007 was solid as a rock. He served his country in war and peacetime. He was so proud of his country and his babies but was passionate about the direction this country was going in and he didn’t like it one bit…as none of us did either.
But why would he take his own life?
The last few emails I received from him in early June, apologizing for the lack of writing (which we all understood due to his service to our country) spoke of him “probably” getting a divorce. I knew the emotional turmoil he must of been going through since I recently went through a divorce. I told him to stay in touch and if he needed anything to please contact me.
I never heard from him again.
Abraham Lincoln battled depression all his life and at times it was crushing, but he said in his autobiography that he rejected his suicidal thoughts because he knew if he committed suicide that’s the only thing people would remember about him.
Also from your link above...
Chris’ military honors:
MAJOR Christopher Todd Galloway was born in FT. Knox, KY on February 12, 1973.
He Graduated from Oxford High School in 1991, where he was a member of the explorer scouts program and he also took great interest in computers and engineering.
MAJOR Galloway went to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI (where he met his wife Shannon) He graduated in 1996 with a bachelors degree in engineering management. He became involved in ROTC while in college and went to Basic training at FT. Knox, KY.
After Graduation, MAJOR Galloway’s 1st assignment was tank platoon leader in Baumholder, Germany for the C company, 1st battalion, 35th armor of 1st Armor division. While serving as a tank platoon leader, MAJOR Galloway deployed to Bosnia for 6 months conducting the NATO peace keeping operations. He was latter assigned to headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) Excutive Officer under the same Battalion.
Major GAlloway’s service includes Assistant Brigade S3 and Batalian S4 in FT. Riley, KS under the 1st Infantry Division. He Served as Troop Commander under D Troop, 1st Squadron, 16th Cavarly regiment in FT. Knox KY. This is where Chris Earned his spurs and Stetson that he was so proud of.
In 2006, Major Galloway was assessed in the Army Acquisition Corps. He served his 1st Acquisition assignment as the assistant Project manager (APM) for survivability under the TANK-AUTOMOTIVE research, development and Engineering center (TARDEC) in Warren, MI. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 till the Birth of his 2nd son.
He served his most recent assignment with the joint MRAP Vehicle Program office for Mine resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) as the APM Survivability under the Program Executive Office, Combat support & Combat service support (PEO CS&CSS)
Major Galloway’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service metal, Army Commendation Metal (2 OLC), Army Achievement metal, National Defense Service metal, NATO metal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign metal, Global War on Terrorism Service Metal, and the overseas and Army Service ribbon.
He is Survived by his wife Shannon and their 3 children. Nathan (4.5), Benjamin (2) and Lillian (10 months)
Major Galloway is also survived by his Mother Sara Galloway and his sister Erin Galloway. He was preceded in Death by his father Major Lawrence Galloway.
There will be a trust fund set up for Major Galloway’s children soon, details to follow.
Tough to hear. Sad for the family. I enjoyed his work, as it was pretty sound stuff.
For what it’s worth, he left his family. Was it avoidable? He did take his own life. It is not uncommon for mental illness to drive folks to that point, but to leave a wife and child. Well, depression/mental illness can be overwhelming for some. Those of us that are crazy in other ways can’t even contemplate doing such a thing to our families, so it’s difficult to relate. Suffice to say that self destruction is a very special form of mental problem.
Some don’t give up, and avail themselves of true miracle drugs that weren’t available even 10 years ago. I can’t tell if this guy tried everything he could to address his problem, I hope he did. Some people can be too proud to see the shrink, or take the pills, or get the therapy. The point is, that lots of this stuff works, to a greater or lesser degree so you owe it to those around you to run the gauntlet. Chances are, you’ll improve your position. How much worse could it get?
Having had a brother who checked himself out early (way early) there’s some anger on the part of those that are left. There’s also an inability to comprehend what must be a terribly tortuous condition. It’s just hard to imagine removing oneself from a new family. Sad.
This just breaks my heart.
Just can’t imagine leaving behind a 10-month old baby and 3 other kids, no matter what had happened to me.
Wow, is this a sad one. My sincere condolences to his family & friends.Prayers up for Chris and his family.