AMVETS post named after Noah Charles Pierce

Virginia AMVETS post named for Iraq veteran who committed suicide
Dickinson Press - Dickinson,ND,USA
VIRGINIA, Minn.
A new AMVETS post here has been named after a 23-year-old Iraq war veteran who committed suicide this year.

Noah Charles Pierce was honored Dec. 15 at a ceremony dedicating AMVETS Post 33 in Virginia.

Pierce was an Army specialist who served with the Third Infantry Division in Kuwait and Iraq. After being discharged from the military, he battled post-traumatic stress disorder before taking his own life in July.

Shawn Carr, who commands the AMVETS post in Virginia, said Pierce carried on the Iron Range tradition of serving the country in a time of need.

"In naming this post Noah C. Pierce AMVETS Post 33, we wish to give Noah a fitting memorial, raise community and public awareness of PTSD and in some way help the healing for his family to begin," Carr said. "As far as I'm concerned, Noah died of injuries received in combat."

Toward the end of the ceremony, Carr read the roll call of local AMVETS members. When he read Pierce's name, "Taps" was played.

Information from: Mesabi Daily News,
http://www.virginiamn.com/

"As far as I'm concerned, Noah died of injuries received in combat." It should be the same way with all people. PTSD is a wound. In his case, it was a wound caused by combat and the traumas of war. They should all be honored and they should all be treated as combat wounded. There is no shame connected to having your limbs blown off or having a bullet wound so why should there be any shame in having your mind wounded by what you lived through and with?


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“PTSD has been around as long as man has gone to war,’’ Ringstrom said. “We have a name for it now. Thank God for the Vietnam vets’’ for bringing it to light. “This isn’t new. These are warriors we’re talking about.’’

HONORING NOAH
Bringing more awareness to PTSD
Linda Tyssen
Last updated: Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 10:07:03 PM


VIRGINIA — Noah Charles Pierce wasn’t there to answer roll call. The sounding of taps responded instead, as the new AMVETS Post 33 was named in his honor at a special ceremony Dec. 15.

The 23-year-old Army veteran of the war in Iraq committed suicide in July, following a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Spc. Pierce served with the Third Infantry Division in Kuwait and Iraq, driving a Bradley fighting vehicle and serving as a gunner on a Humvee. After his discharge from the military, he had told his family he would have gone back for a third tour of duty.

Shortly after the AMVETS post was chartered in Virginia, Commander Shawn Carr announced his wish to name the post for Pierce. AMVETS, short for American Veterans, is open to all those who served in the military, whether in wartime or peacetime, overseas or at home. Post 33 is headquartered at the Servicemen’s Club.

A large group of Pierce’s family and friends and military veterans came to the ceremony at the Servicemen’s Club. Pierce’s parents, Cheryl and Tom Softich of Sparta, and his sister, Sarah Snyder, were among those in attendance.

“In naming this post Noah C. Pierce AMVETS Post 33, we wish to give Noah a fitting memorial, raise community and public awareness of PTSD and in some way help the healing for his family to begin,’’ Commander Carr said in his remarks.
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http://www.virginiamn.com/mdn/?sect_rank=1&section_id=70&story_id=211592