Memorial Day
Today I went to Corey’s grave. I left flowers of his favorite colors… purple and black. Some people might think this odd, because he wasn’t in the military. So I’m going to share something with you that not everyone knows.
Corey WAS in the military. He was in ROTC for 4 years. During that time, he was the only one in his class that took the senior class for the college credit. I still have the plaque proudly displayed in my office.
When he and his wife started having financial issues and college didn’t seem to be working out, he went into basic training at Fort Benning.
While he was there 5 of his classmates killed themselves. One asked the drill sergeant if he could use the restroom while they were on the shooting range and brought his gun with him… while he was on the tree line, he set his gun to burst and killed himself.
It was during this time that Corey realized he couldn’t hurt another human. EVER.
He wrote me a letter. In the letter, he said that he didn’t want to disappoint me, but that he never wanted to shoot another gun, and he didn’t want to die before he was 24. So he was going to be leaving the Army. That took a LOT of guts.
Ironically, he died before he was 23. At the hands of someone that doesn’t believe in peace.
He is buried next to my mother. Her generation of women wasn’t allowed to serve in the military… well they could, but not in an active position. So instead, she worked in the Marine Corps finance center for 20 years.
God bless all of the military men and women out there that have served our country. God bless you for fighting for our rights. By what Corey shared with me, you went through hell before you even left Basic. I cannot imagine what you have gone through since.
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