Posted on 07/10/2020 4:00:56 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Edited on 07/10/2020 4:01:44 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
The enemy could never break him, but what this decorated Green Beret eventually found was that his enemy was within. Friends who served with him in the military say he was the real “Captain America.”
Master Sgt. Andrew Christian Marckesano served six full tours in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne and the Ranger regiment and a half dozen more combat tours overseas. He rose to become a decorated Green Beret and a Silver Star recipient. He had just moved to Washington, D.C., to start a coveted job at the Pentagon. Two days after the Fourth of July on Monday night, after having dinner with his former battalion leader, Marckesano returned home from dinner in Old Town, Alexandria, and died by suicide in front of his wife. He had three small children and was still on active duty.
His death sent shock waves through the military. His friends, family and military leaders were at a loss. Many told Fox News that Marckesano never got over his tour in Afghanistan's Arghandab Valley in 2009 with the 2-508, a battalion that had one of the highest casualty rates of any unit during the war. “That deployment was like being in the ring with Mike Tyson for a year,” according to the battalion’s former Command Sgt Major Bert Puckett.
He sent a passionate appeal this week to the rest of the battalion: “Text me, I told you before my door is open... my phone is at hand. We did things that people make movies about and in some cases, writers and producers wouldn’t even try to write our story... the rucksack is heavy... and when it gets heavy we [&$#*] help each other, but you have to reach out... Don’t let the Valley win.”
Very sad, RIP brave hero.
Karma is looking for you.
lol... you stepped in it man.
You aren’t fit to wipe that mans rectum.
L
The hero could not have done anything more selfish. I understand the demons but he knew enough to seek help. (Retired Army officer)
Karma is still looking for you.
His family and friends are in my prayers. Please Dear Lord, he did serve his time in Hell! R.I.P!
Uncalled for and derogatory. None of us know what demons he dealt with.
So many deployments really puts soldiers and their families under a lot of stress.
It’s a sad damn deal but he gave all he had and had nothing left to stay for. R I P soldier. Wish you would have stayed.
Try living through the horrors he participated in and saw, then judge him. If you haven’t, you can’t.
Combat breaks even the toughest of men. Constant cycles of stress can rewire your brain. When a man leaves young children behind at his own hand I tend to think like you do, but I also know I have never walked a mile in his shoes.
I am just sickened to read this all the way around. Prayers for his wife and children. There has been so much death and damage from our futile efforts to build democracies and not all of it stays in the sand. Heartbreaking.
It is not only the equipment we have worn out over there.....
RLTW
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
I would imagine it has hard to adjust to “real life” with that many tours
I sent care packages to Afghanistan.
I was shocked at how much they needed. Even just basics.
ESAD
I dont believe he was a loser. He helped far more people than he harmed it seems to me, including you by serving his country.
FU
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