Maj. Chris Galloway, R.I.P.
Major Chris Galloway, 36, was a writer at group blog Flopping Aces. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan. In June, he took his own life. His devastated fellow writers at Flopping Aces have a moving group tribute to their friend.
Please read it. A tragic loss. A lasting legacy. Service to this country that won’t be forgotten.
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God rest his soul. He may be as much a victim of the left and what they did to make his life harder during his service to our country as any enemy on the battlefield. May God forgive them, because I cannot.
This happens too often to our veterans. God keep him close.
The good news is that they have created a new group of MOS, i.e., what they specialize in, in the mental health areas. This happened during the height of battle in Iraq.
RIP Major Galloway.
I guess it’s true-the good doget taken too soon.
I can’t figure this out. He served our country bravely and my admiration for all whom do so continues. However, he took his own life. He left a wife and 3 kids behind. Suicide is murder. Why are we memorializing this cowardly act?
“Why are we memorializing this cowardly act?”
“Something” is being missed with our military folks. The suicide rate is too high. My brother who is a counselor is working with a person now who was misdiagnosed with bi-polar disease when he has ptsd. Quite a horrific story in terms of his trauma and the mis-diagnosis and meds that were forced on him made matters worse.
So dude, cut these folks some slack.
OK: 2 different issues. There may be mental issues attendant with battle that we need to better understand and address. At the same time, there’s a good old fashioned ethic about suicide that is nearly gone, even at a unabashedly conservative blog. That is a more tragic loss. Perhaps this isn’t a memorial but a call to action; but if true, we need a rewrite.
Prayers for his family and friends, and thankfulness for Mag. Galloway’s service for our country.
“Why are we memorializing this cowardly act?”
I’ve had several people in my life take their lives, and I can only say brash commentary such as yours is all too common an expression by those who can neither comprehend nor empathize. It’s not ok, but your reaction is understandable. I pray you never feel the pain of a close loved one lost this way. We are not memorializing suicide but the life of a person who still deserves our love and mourning.
figgles, read what Scott wrote:
Suicide is a terrible thing, but Scott is right; it’s better for those who are left behind to remember the man for who he was and what he did with his life rather than focus on that last unfathomable action that ended it.
Far better to show a little compassion for someone who walked through the kind of hell most of us cannot even imagine. And most importantly, better for the family and friends he left behind.
May God grant them peace.
The men and women of the armed forces agree to do the toughest jobs. They do not ask for the job to be appeciated. They do however get hurt when they continually here that the mission is flawed.
The left knows this. They do everything they can to get members questioning the validity of the mission.
Their leaders in congress fund the mission all the while encouraging their followers to create havoc in regards to the mission. This has an effect on all the members of the armed forces. Some attempt to take time and push back against this onslaught of nonsense by giving insight into exactly what they do in these arenas.
Not just the combat but the building of communities, schools, and friendships. The left does not care. To them it is one more chance to tear America apart, just like Vietnam. It is a game to them, but one they do not care to lose.
Conflict, war and international entanglements are messy affairs, best not played out in the evening news like a traffic report. But if your goal is a traffic jam, the evening news screamers are the place to start. And my friends the left are masters of muddying the water.
RIP Major
RIP Major Galloway. May God judge the American Left, who added to your pain, with as much of His vengeance as He judges you with His boundless mercy.
A prayer is going out for your family that they may find Peace and Comfort to help them thru their sorrow.
How absolutely heartwrenching. Those beautiful babies will certainly miss him the most. I would ssy instead of dismantling our healthcare that the government give better care to the best of our country and spend a billion or two more on returning vets and their mental health!
“Far better to show a little compassion”
figgles seems more interested in proving himself right then any other goal.
So figgles, you are right.
Feel better?
It is heartbreaking. I wonder if he asked for help. There are many people who support the troops AND their mission. Many of us support a number of causes for our returning soldiers.
You soldiers out there who carry the pain of war, thank you for sticking with it. You are a blessing to us and admired more than you will ever know.
Who can presume to ever know the intense pain one must feel to actually want to die to end that pain. I can’t judge him for what he did. Those of us who have never felt that way can’t possibly fathom such feelings. I pray he has found the peace he so desparately needed. And I pray God will forgive him for what he did.
I can tell you what the pain and guilt does to the ones left behind.
All so very tragic…
That’s a great analogy.
R.I.P. Major Galloway
I always considered it loving your baseball team but hating the fact that the idiot manager played with a 4 man starting rotation, used closer-by-committee and put their best hitter at #6 in the lineup.
I take no pleasure in what I have commented on. Our prayers are with the family as well as the soul of Maj. Galloway.
Terribly sad.
I don’t think the left realizes how much their hate actually harms America AND Americans.
Every hospital in America is overwhelmed with suicide right now. Some have as many as 4-5 high school aged suicides PER WEEK.
The military is dealing with this as well.
PLEASE Look up/search ASIST – ‘A.S.I.S.T.’ and YELLOW RIBBON suicide prevention training.
Yellow ribbon is an hour or two on how to recognize the signs AND what to do next.
ASIST is a two day training. (not yet avail. everywhere, call them)
Most people don’t have any idea what to do IF someone is thinking about ending their own life…do you?
Do you know if they’re serious?
There are many other programs.
Get you church, your local schools, clubs, etc. involved ASAP.
I lost my little sister a few years ago, she was 36.
p.s. I was too late. You don’t have to be.
I had to break into her home.
Trust me, you don’t EVER want to find a loved one….too late,… as I did.
It’s a real life nightmare I relive every day.
***
All people are vulnerable to suicide thoughts at times in their lives. The military who have seen combat know how easy it is to die–and may take this ” easy way out”.
***
Anyone feeling this way must seek out good family, friends, a good minister, or other person to help them through the hard times.
***
They usually have a lot left to contribute in their lives–to family, friends, country, and themselves. Their early demise is a loss to us all.
***
John Bibb
***
And that is what a depressed person NEVER sees for themselves. It does take others to help.
RIP soldier, I thank you for your service to the country you loved.
May his family be blessed with hope, peace and understanding while suffering their loss. Give strength to the children.
I’m not so sure they don’t relish in the harm they can do to anyone with differing opinions. They are hard, cold practitioners of their works.
shooter, thanks for those suggestions.
And please accept my heartfelt condolences. I will pray that you will know peace, day by day.
Thanks for noticing Michelle. While I visit the blog on a daily basis I can’t say I was all that familiar with Chris. Whether his service to the country played any part in it or if it was just the burdens of life became too much we will never know. Let’s remember and honor his service to this country, and keep his family in our prayers.
Suicide is a terrible thing, so please, please, anybody who is experiencing such thoughts call someone, talk to someone, it doesn’t matter if it is a friend or a stranger.
Life is not a spectator sport. He chose his fate. He chose to abandon his family. He chose to abandon his friends. He chose to abandon his fellow Soldiers. Sure, was ol’ Screwtape whispering lies and half-truths into his Host’s ear? Absolutely, but does it remove the element of choice? Does it change the fact that now his wife will now have to explain to his children what a cowardly act he committed? That he preferred to end his pain rather than love and raise his own children?
And since folks will attempt to marginalize what I’m saying as “cold” or “untouched by suicide”, I’ll just say this: I’ve had the unenviable job of having to investigate one Soldier’s suicide. I’ve seen the effects firsthand of a suicide in a unit. I’ve also nearly lost friends to suicide attempts. Nothing, absolutely nothing, good comes from suicide. Perhaps the closing thing to good that comes from it is a potential wake-up call to those considering this poor permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Send_Me, those who have been left behind and those who live with the ones left behind, Know.
Pray for this soldier’s family.
Gladz, you are 100% right.
My wifes Uncle committed suicide 10 days ago.
Older than the good Major, but no less troubled. The hole left in everyone when a family member chooses this path is deep and lasting.
If anyone knows someone who is troubled and you might think they are in danger of committing suicide, encourage them to get help. Even if it is difficult or uncomfortable, the alternative is much worse.
Shannon Galloway posted in the comments on the blog that she HAD tried to get Chris help, but to no avail.
Knowing what I know of the VA support (my niece was in the AF and is suicidal, just not successful yet – thank God.) The wait to see a doctor or be admitted or to get any help is so long, the funeral would long be over before they called to schedule.
figgles – shut up. you have not experienced what these soldiers have experienced. You obviously have no human compassion for their pain. Next time you read or hear of one of these tragedies, just STFU.
I wanted to pass along my condolences to the Galloway family. I feel that the American people are often more insulated to what’s happening in the world than our military. I can’t express how touched I am and continue to be by Maj. Galloway’s words and contributions to the FA blog.
The following words by Maj. Galloway’s wife trully crystalized what I’ve been feeling about both the military and my biological family:
I feel much closer to my military family and friends than I do my own parents, in-laws, and friends. They don’t understand the constant fear I live in and the ever gripping vigilance a lot of us military spouses have.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that a lot of military spouses are going through hell as well. There are a lot of us, like me, who are fighting depression and other mental health disorders while our military husands/wives don’t know what to do for us. We try to look out for one another but with the constant pace of change in the military, you lose touch sometimes.
There’s a lot of fear right now in the military about the stigma of mental health counseling. I’ve seen it. Tricare and the military healthcare system still doesn’t know how to deal with either military or military family mental health issues. They just don’t. No matter how positive the Army makes their reaction to the situation, they’re obviously not reaching everybody and either treating warning signs lightly or not at all.
I wouldn’t even begin to say that I know what was going through Maj. Gallloway’s head. I do know what it’s like to feel the deep, knawing hopelessness that even your own military spouse can’t penetrate. Mrs. Galloway tried to get her husband help and in the end she couldn’t penetrate that hopelessness. Maybe nobody could.
You probably can’t figure it out because you don’t know what it’s like to have PTSD, or clinical depression. There are lot of talented, bright people, in the military and not, that are going through this right now.
Suicide is not murder nor is is it a cowardly act. How can you be so judgemental when you’ve never experienced a mental health issue or had somebody you know experience it? I don’t get your attitude at all.
Sometimes these men and women go through hell in Iraq and Afghanistan and return back to the US never the same. It isn’t a sign of cowardice to have a mental illness. Depression is a disease, a chronic one, that needs just as much recognition and support as any other.
Your lack of sympathy is what’s pushing so many military members not to seek help and support.
1. How is suicide not a form of murder? How do you define murder?
2. Is suicide not a choice? If not cowardly, then what would you call it? Taking the life of a human being is not amoral, which means that the act is either moral or immoral. Which would you call it? Please do not confuse complexity, or perceived complexity, regarding such issues as an excuse for saying “it is what it is”. Such a statement is nonsensical.
3. I’ll let you read my previous post, which should explain my ability to have legitimate standing in this discussion.
Now, hear me…. slowly… it’s.not.murder. Murder is someone taking another’s life unless you now want to redo how it’s defined by the legal system.
Suicide, in my estimation, is a choice of last resort by people who feel like they’re slowly drowning. That’s what it feels like. Human beings make tons of choices and morality does not enter into suicide. Suicide is beyond rationalizations like yours or anybody elses. If you cared to read the FA blog you’d realize nobody was “rationalizing” or looking for reasons for Maj. Galloway’s suicide. The only person who’d know that would be Maj. Galloway, not you, me, or anybody else. There are a ton of reasons why people commit suicide but at the end of the day, when somebody reaches that point, there are no complexities, no boxes to cross out. I am not making excuses for Maj. Galloway, I am simply asking that we take into account his recent deployment, stresses on his marriage, and his mental state. When you’re deeply depressed or suffering from some sort of psychosis, no complexity enters into whether or not suicide occurs. For some it is instantaneous, and for others, it’s a process.
You, or anybody else, do not have any idea what was going through Maj. Galloway’s mind. You may have dealt with the investigation of a suicide and its nasty aftereffects but you are by no means a forensic psychologist. I feel for this man’s family and his wife and children and wish somebody could have penetrated the deep hopelessness or psychosis he obviously suffered. He felt like he was better off dead for some reason and it had more to do with him than his family, wife, and kids.
And, before you and anybody else lectures me on the ethical scope of suicide, I have probably more insight into suicide and depression than you do. I have a history of depression in my family and tried to commit suicide multiple times as a teenager. I’ve battled depression for the last 10 years and have had these thoughts.
You have no idea what that deep well of hopelessness and despair feel like unless you’ve personally faced it or spoken to someone who has. I will not judge Maj. Galloway because I almost went down the same road. Ending your life via suicide isn’t a selfish act. In many cases, those who commit suicide think, in their psychosis, that their family is better off without them. That the world will be better off without them.
I’ve reevaluated a lot in my life such as why I’m here and why I was put on this planet. I have a husband in the military who has been nothing but encouraging and supportive of me getting help though therapy and medication. I’ve also had a particularly difficult year with family difficulties, a loved one dying from cancer, and a military move, and I often struggle to make the best of every day I have.
Perhaps, if Maj. Galloway had known he wasn’t the only one in his particular situation, we would have had a different outcome. Who is to say? Definitely not you and certainly not me.
Perhaps, you should talk to those who suffer from mental illness or who have attempted suicide and you’ll get a better idea what suicide involves. There’s no rational or selfish though that enters into it. Suicide doesn’t involve anything but the relief of someone’s psychic pain. I’ve felt it and I still do.
I’m sure you won’t understand. That’s why suicide is still a huge problem both in and out of the military.
@Living in the PSRK: Obama also wishes I’d “STFU” as well. Your arguments are essentially similar to those in defense of abortion; “you haven’t experienced… no compassion… ” points you can’t debate, just a volley of bitter barbs. Since I am neither a woman nor an aborted baby, then I should STFU about abortion? @emjem24; my lack of sympathy is for the successful suicider; there’s nothing in what I wrote to justify your odd conflation. if my anti-suicide bias prevents enlistment, then we have greater problems than my question. I’m confident our military isn’t such milquetoast, however.
Of course we should compassionately address the mental health issues that attend suicide; of course we should also embrace make a clear message; “suicide is wrong.” It’s possible to do both. I can’t believe I have to make this point to a conservative blog.
Turn this around; what if some had murdered a husband, father of 3 and war hero? Suicide isn’t murder; they only share a body count.
emjem24, your words touch me. You are for some reason choosing not to leave this world. Do you realize the great amount of strength you actually have?? You may be going through this (now or in past) for a reason and it may be to help others. Consider your strength, it’s origin, and then consider helping others learn to obtain or acknowledge the strength you have. Thank you for sticking with it and thank your husband for serving.
Correction:
emjem24…but you probably knew what I meant. Take care.
Send_Me: “Sure, was ol’ Screwtape whispering lies and half-truths into his Host’s ear? Absolutely, but does it remove the element of choice?”
Yes. . .the fact he took his own life proves it.
As a few have said so eloquently, you don’t know what his suffering was and to what level, but clearly it became unbearable, beyond his ability to cope and suicide was the only option for him. There was no choice in his mind.
My sister when growing up attempted suicide but was discovered in time and lived. Her belief was she was doing what was right and best for our family. She has since fought successfully against the demons that still knock at the door from time to time, she carries on.
I will not judge the man harshly.
I will pray for him and his children.
You see what you only want to see. Deployments put a lot of pressure on military members, their families, and their units. Some military members cannot handle the mental stress. Does that make them “milquetoast?”
No matter the ad campaigns one can make to prevent suicide, there will be people, in all age groups, who will still attempt and succeed at taking their own lives. No one knows why. We need to better research why this is the case and how to reach those who can’t step back from the abyss.
You can say all you want how “suicide is wrong.” There is such societal denial and lack of awareness about mental health issues like suicide. There is a stigma against depression in and out of the militaary. I recently told my parents I’d been battling depression since adolescence. You know what they told me: “You don’t need to take that medication. You’ll feel better without it.”
Do you know what it’s like to hear your own family deny to both you and themselves that depression is real and constant? I sought support and understanding from people I thought could offer it and found the mental health stigma very real and disheartening. Is it no less so for our troops?
This isn’t about murder or abortion. For you to reduce suicide to a moral equivalency argument reflects your own denial and acceptance of the stigma that revolves around mental health issues. Our military members have given everything to our country, their hearts, souls, and even very lives, and that they’re not returning whole and in total control of their faculties is a continuing trend. My husband is seeing this as are a lot of other folks in the military.
I don’t understand your hostility toward people who are in PAIN. That they are having difficulty dealing with that pain and are worried about the stigma of meeting your label of “milquetoast” is a huge confirmation that there is still a lot work ahead to understand mental illness, depression, and PTSD.
Maj. Galloway is no murderer or no less a hero because he was at the mercy of a mental illness that slowly consumed him. That you want to attach certain stereotypes to his actions or seem him as weak because he didn’t return to his family the same person is really saddening.
While I understand your attitude it does not mean it’s right or even the kind of reaction mental illness should be treated to. You cannot tough out mental illness with cold turkey techniques like smoking. My parents treated me with these kind of suggestions which do nothing but make mental illness sufferers treat the outside world with an insular kind of fear.
Thank you, Gladyz. I don’t often speak of depression and what I’m going through because it’s a personal experience and a painful one. I’ve tried both medication and therapy and discussed my experiences with others on this blog. I would like to say that I have found a way to live with depression but I would be lying to you and kidding myself.
Many who suffer from mental illness are ashamed (I’ve felt this) and feel no one understands. I sought help in my 20′s but it was a bittersweet kind of solution. No one kind of medication or therapy works for everyone. I made this discovery as I sought help.
Many who suffer from mental illness feel alone. We are encouraged to deal with past traumas and issues and are often told that we are weak or our problems aren’t real by our own family and friends. This is the side effect of mental illness no one talks about.
As I write this, I fight back tears. Maj. Galloway, being the proud military man he was, probably did not want to burden his family with what he saw as a weakness. He didn’t want to feel that stigma. In the end, he unconsciously will leave a lifetime of questions and pain behind.
I want to know the answers to those questions. I want to know that I can live life without feeling that I’m barely holding on to the tendrils of sanity and lucidity. However, as I write this, I still struggle to find purpose and meaning in my life.
Mental illness and its forms like depression steal lives and dreams. I feel like I’ve lost as much as I’ve gained through my struggle. I would like to have a child but wonder if they will inherit the silent, painful hell that is depression. That would gut me if that happened.
So, I am left with more questions than answers as is Maj. Galloway’s family. Perhaps, in the end, his life and example will be a “teachable moment” that even strong men like Maj. Galloway are fallible and battle personal demons. And sometimes, those demons overtake us.
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
True Story : I was very touched by this article and posted a link on my Facebook page. Being the closed minded conservative Christian that I am, I reached out to my open-minded Liberal friend to read the article, as I know that supporting the troops is something we share in common. She has many friends in the military and claims to support them and the work they do. Well, she spent all but 1 minute scanning the article and told me she couldn’t get past the “political crap” to find out how he had actually died. I told her it was suicide, and the fact that he blogged about his experiences in Afghanistan and often had to argue with anti-war types about the the belief that there is no connection between Saddam/Bin Laden, and there are arguments about WMD. Plus, the divorce may have played a role. Because she didn’t bother to read this article of one of the soldiers she claims to support, I quoted his email about saying you support the troops but don’t support the war is like supporting your baseball team, yet not wanting them to win! “I can’t believe you just said that!” said the tolerant one, and in her open minded ness, closed the chatbox before I could reply.
Moral of the story: Those on the left who “support the troops” only support “certain” soldiers – not the ones who believe we are there for a reason.
She still hasn’t contacted me. I’m all broken up inside.