On May 24th 2014, we lost a good man. A man that would take the shirt off of his back for anyone no matter the cost, an amazing husband and even better father, and last but not least, a Man that served his Country with Pride. He took his job as a Marine seriously and was very proud of everything he accomplished.
Jonathon, in September 2013, EAS’d from the Marine Corps with a maxed out 100% disability rating with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (traumatic brain injury). Exactly 8 months later he took his own life. Sadly our statistics show that 22 Veterans a Day take their own life!! This whole process has been something I never wish on anyone.
Jonathon served 2 tours in Afghanistan and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan for 2 years and Camp Lejeune for 3 years. We were not married when he came back from the first deployment, but his family said he wasn’t the same. After the 2nd one he definitely wasn’t the same and it was much worse than the first. Life around our house changed drastically. While Jonathon was deployed I gave birth to our first born, about a month and half before his return. Soon after his return we got pregnant with our 2nd child… During this pregnancy things with Jon made a turn for the worse. He had to stay occupied with work or something or he would go crazy sitting in the house, so he poured his life into his Marines and was rarely ever home. Our marriage began to fall apart. He began looking at and doing things with other women when he should have been looking at me. This is when I just practically felt like giving up. The trust went out the window. We fought all the time about him being so standoffish and the slightest thing set him off. We were hoping when he got out and we moved back to his home in Ohio things would get better they only got TREMENDOUSLY worse. He was very angry and distant and became uncontrollable at times he would just leave home for several days.
In May of 2014, I asked to go back to NC to see my family for my birthday and Mother’s Day. He had to work so couldn’t take the time off so just the kids and I went. Nothing was abnormal and he kissed the kids and told them he would see them later, and so we left. As our time in NC came to an end it got harder and harder to get up with Jonathon. On the 22nd he asked to video chat so he could see the kids. I was driving so I said let me get home and we can do it. He never answered the video chat. The next morning he was supposed to show up to a “Lay off” meeting (which he had never mentioned. I found out after he passed when I called to inform his boss), and he had never shown up. A part of me just thought he was busy and didn’t have time to call or text so I didn’t want to bother him. Since I was 10 hours away there was nothing I could really do. So Saturday morning I woke up worried out of my mind – something just told me to call his mother. When I did I told her to please go to the house and check on Jonathon. That day just happened to be high school graduation at their school and his sister was graduating. She said if he doesn’t show up to graduation we will go check. His dad ended up going before and found Jon lifeless.
To this day I have no answers. I constantly ask WHY?? He was such a good person and loved by so many. WHY him? Why now? Why when we had an almost 2 year old and a 10 month old??? And to set it all off, a month and a half before, he had called the VA begging for help and they pushed him back 3 months saying they had more serious cases to deal with. They could get him an appointment on JUNE THE 26th?????? Three months after the original phone call was made?? Why so long?? I will never understand all this and I’m not gonna try. God has a purpose for everything, but as bad as all this hurts me, what hurts me the most is seeing my kids having to grow up without the most important man in their life. They need their dad!!” (shared by his wife, Megan)
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