VA Marine Killed (10:31 pm)
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) - Marine Corps authorities investigating the death of an Iraq combat veteran at Camp Pendleton say they have not ruled out the possibility of homicide. The Marine Corps said the body of 23-year-old Sergeant Sean K. Webster of Fairfax, Virginia, was discovered Saturday. Webster was twice awarded the Purple Heart.
The North County Times reports his first Purple Heart came after he was wounded in June 2005 bombing during a raid near the Syrian border. The second came after an anti-tank mine exploded under his vehicle in Anbar province in September 2005. The Marines say the death was not an accident, and spokesman Lieutenant Ken Kunze says the Naval Criminal Investigative Service has not ruled out homicide.
The circumstances have not been released.
http://www.wtvr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8582068
Linked from ICasualties.org
UPDATE
A reader left a comment on the first post I did on Sgt. Webster letting me know he passed away. In just a few days, I had forgotten why his name was tugging at me. This is why and I feel horrible I had forgotten this hopeful story was part of his life.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Camp Pendleton 80% PTSD at Wounded Warrior Battalion
"Eighty percent of our residents have some degree of PTSD," Lawhorne said, referring to the disorder that requires counseling and group therapy in mild cases and more intensive psychiatric treatment and medications in its more severe form. "At the same time, we're seeing a lot more TBI cases."
MILITARY: Treating the troops
Wounded Warrior Battalion focuses on injured Marines and sailors
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer Friday, June 20, 2008 5:13 PM PDTCAMP PENDLETON ---- Nearly three years and 14 surgeries after the right side of his body was torn apart by shrapnel in a roadside bombing in Iraq, Marine Sgt. Sean Webster is working to save his military career.After he was injured, he had visions of becoming a drill instructor; now, he'd be grateful for a job training fellow Marines in some less-intensive discipline."My goal is to stay in the Marine Corps on limited duty," the 23-year-old Virginia native said during a Wednesday interview at the base. "What I'd really like to do is stay as a staff member here.
"The "here" for Webster is the Wounded Warrior Battalion West, a unit established in part because of criticisms regarding care for troops.The battalion's mission is simple: Do all it can to help coordinate treatment for injured Marines and sailors.Nearly 12 months after it was formally launched, the battalion's civilian and military members are working directly with or tracking more than 600 current and former troops, including 41 now living in the barracks.The battalion and a comparable one at Camp Lejeune on the East Coast were established to provide a central point of contact for troops injured on and off the battlefield. Troops assigned to it are mostly those needing outpatient services, not the more severely wounded who are treated at comprehensive medical facilities.
"We have two main goals," said Cheryl Lawhorne, a civilian liaison officer who works to make sure troops and families are receiving the services they need. "Get them back to full ability or get them through the medical board and get them every benefit they're entitled to. We track everybody who comes through here for as long as it takes."go here for more
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06/20/military/
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My boyfriend is a Marine at Camp Pendleton and Sgt. Sean K. Webster was his best friend. he was a good marine and an even better friend. I'm sorry for the family of Sean Webster my thoughts and Prayers are with you.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for the loss for everyone. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.
ReplyDeleteI had the honor of meeting meet Sgt. Webster, 'Sean' through our Freedom Dogs, Specialty Service Dogs clinic held at Camp Pendleton. Sean has been instrumental in helping our group with our upcoming Pilot utilizing Specialty Service Dogs with the rehabilitation of our Wounded Warriors returning from war. He was a remarkable man and we will keep Sean's memory alive through our program.
ReplyDeleteI pray for his everlasting peace, as well as for his loved ones.
Karen Hoyt
dog trainer for Freedom Dogs
I am completely overwhelmed and appreciative of the support I recieved. Completely overwhelmed at the care and respect the USMC gave Sean. And I am the proudest mother in the whole wide world. I have never seen any man so widely respected and I know I had a big part in that. I love you all
ReplyDeleteMichele McCarthy, Sean's mom
I am so sorry for your loss. You and your family are in my prayers. I am grateful that you have received so much support and humbled you made your comment here. Your son was a special man to many. This is clear from what has been reported about him. You are an amazing woman as well. There are so many, far too many, thinking there is something to be ashamed of when the wound of PTSD hits. Your voice will help assure them there is nothing to be ashamed of at all. This is a wound of the men and women who experience the abnormal events of war. There is no shame in being wounded in another part of the body so there should be no shame in this wound either. I thank you very much for the courage you instilled in your son.
ReplyDeleteWhen my own husband came back from Vietnam with PTSD, they were made to feel ashamed of being wounded, as if there was something wrong with them. They fought to stay alive in silence and we lost too many of them because of this. I almost lost my husband but because of the help he has been receiving, and will be receiving for the rest of his life, he is living a life instead of just existing. Too many did not receive any help at all and are still suffering in silence. The stigma of PTSD prevents them from seeking it. Families like your's will encourage them to rise above the ignorant, uneducated voices trying to belittle this wound.
Sean was the other half of me. I have known him for over 2 years and a part of me will forever be gone. MIchele and Ken, always know that he loved you both, and Jess, Ray and the kids. I'll be his voice in creating change for our wounded.
ReplyDeleteThe world lost an amazing man, but God just got an angel...
We love and miss him.
Cher
Cher, I appreciate your comment, but more so the part about being his voice. Most of the people working on PTSD, trying to raise awareness and help them, are doing it because they have been personally involved with someone with it. I started doing this 25 years ago because of my husband.
ReplyDeleteWe know them. We see the changes in them. We know their hearts and we see their pain. We know they are wounded.
We see things no one else in the world sees, the heartache and the longing to be what they were before. We know the endless days, weeks, months, years of waiting to have claims approved for what VA doctors link to their service but the claims processors deny. Bills pile up making them suffer even more and they are left to wonder why. They just want to be "normal" again but they know they can't be. They survived the abnormal violence and carnage of combat. They are forever changed because of it but they don't have to be forever devastated by it. Wounds heal when they are treated and this wound is no different from that. Scars remain but they can live a life again.
When people like you step up to speak up for them, we are a lot closer to the day when all the veterans from all wars are treated properly for this wound. Bless you for wanting to join in this fight for them. We are fighting for their lives because they were willing to fight for ours.
I met this incredible family just as they were preparing to travel to see their family members, after a long time away. As my daughter sat near by (playing her I-Pod) I thought she is not taking into account that the incredible person had suffered dearly for his country while in combat....listening to his beautiful wife tell the story that eventally would have us met..my heart was immediately filled with some sense of joy.... I don't know really what is was...as we turned to wave goodbye I wanted to picture them in my mind....they seem so nice. The family stayed with me all during the travel back down the road and into the next coming weeks, not understanding why. My daughter and I talked breifly about the "cutie pie boy" on his dads arms....and that seem to be it. Much to my surprise and heartbroken did I hear the news of this incredible persons passing. In disbelief I search all the news and gathered information that was available only to confirm the news. My daughter and I talked it over and I was very pleasantly surprised she was keen in observations and listened intently as the family talked. Wow! Kids are amazing... and that brought me joy. I was completely honored to have met this person on such a short passing of our lives... and wanted to extend my deepest of thoughts and sympathy to his lovely family. I leave you with this.....We forget what people do, we forget what people say, but we never forget how people make us feel' - Maya Angelou
ReplyDeleteHeartwarming. Thank you for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteChaplain, I'd like to make a difference for Sean. I would like all of this to disappear, to never have happened. I would like to look at Sean's picture again without falling apart. I would like for all of this to not have been in vain. Please tell me what I can do.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Michele,
ReplyDeleteYour comment did go through. I allowed it just now. I'll answer it here as well as on the blog so that other people will know what they can do.
The best way to help is to Be.
Be aware of what they are going through when PTSD cuts them too deeply. No one is the same. Look at your own life and think of how some people you know got over the grief of someone they loved dying. For some, it seemed quickly but others retained the grief longer. You would see it in their eyes whenever they spoke of the person they loved. It is the same thing with PTSD. Some will feel the loss of their friends more. Some will feel the loss of strangers more. Some will be cut by the violence of combat more. It's very hard to see the "view" of life they had before after all of this. Know that it has nothing to do with their bravery, their courage or their patriotism. It has more to do with how deeply they feel things.
Be there for them to listen. Hear what they have to say and listen with your heart. Shut off the judgment you may have in your mind. Friends will tend to go through the same thing they do and then think of how they "got over it" then judge the wounded. The human nature in man is always competition. The attitude of "I could do it why can't you" comes between compassion and judgment. Look at the people you know in your own life. How many of them do you know who cannot do something that comes easily to you? How many do you know who can do things with ease you find impossible? Have compassion for what they cannot do, use your own ability to hold out your hand to help them. Rejoice in what others have been blessed with the ability to do and learn from them, accept their help and encourage them to use the gifts they do have.
Be an advocate for them. Let them lean on you as you guide them to the help they need and take them to it if you have to. When you hear someone spouting off about off about how they have changed, correct them. Events change every human but some are changed more than others. Everything that happens during our time on earth goes into what we are becoming. Know what the changes are and what they mean. Explain to the person spouting off they are showing their ignorance and should be ashamed of themselves for having learned nothing after PTSD has been recorded since the beginning of time.
Be what they need of you. When you want to help someone, do you tell them what you want to do or do you do what they are trying to do?
Be gentle when frustration comes into you. You are not in control of their emotions. Try to help them control their own emotions. This comes with patience and practice. Understand that you, yourself are just another human trying to do the best you can but will not be perfect in everything.
Be forgiving when they cannot find the strength within themselves to go on, hold out your hand. If you have done all that is possible and still they seek to end their pain, forgive them and help their family. Forgive them if they do something wrong because of the wound they carry. The greater majority of the PTSD wounded will become saddened. Anger also comes with PTSD. Again, it depends on the person. Some will seek out whatever they think will relieve them of the pain cutting deep within them. Some will try to hurt someone else so they can justify how horrible they feel inside. PTSD is as complicated as we all are.
The other thing you can do is to pray for them and pray you are guided to help them. God has not judged them for what they went through. They forget the first warrior was the Archangel Michael, the warrior angel. He was created before man was. Freewill of all requires someone to defend when that freewill is used for harmful purposes. They need to understand that God has not abandoned them. If they feel they still need to be forgiven, tell them to ask for it and remind them that Christ asked God to forgive the people who nailed him to the cross.
Dear Michele, I knew your son for over a year and a half. There are some people in life you meet then fail to remember. Your son Seau was not one of them. Seau was truly a Virginia gentleman with a lovely smile, bright twinkle in his eye, he was a real credit to you and the USMC. I take meals out to the Wounded Warriors once a month. Seau was a etremely helpful and a pleasure to be around. You and your family are in my daily houghts and prayers. Joanne Murphy
ReplyDeleteI was the Marine Liaison at NHCP for over 18 months. Sean and I ate lunch and talked together many of times. I had hope for him just as I had hope for all of my guys down there. You just really never know what life is going to throw at you until it happens. I just heard about this and spoke to Paul "SSgt McQuigg" and I am at a loss for words. May his pain be soothed and my condolences to his family, both the Marines and his natural family alike. Semper Fi Sean.
ReplyDeleteChris Longley
Cpl USMC.
Thank you Chris. When the pain gets too great for some, often there is nothing more we can do than to let them know they are loved. I'm sure he appreciated the friendship you gave him.
ReplyDeleteI tell the story often of how I could not save my husband's nephew. He was a Vietnam Vet with PTSD. Even after many years of doing outreach work, I could not get thru to him. He committed suicide as well. It took a long time to get thru to my own husband, also a Vietnam vet with PTSD but I thank God he finally listened. Maybe they wouldn't listen because I am 8 years younger, was not a veteran and they couldn't understand how I could know anything. We've been married for 24 years now. All we can do is do the best we can everyday and pray God finds a way to help them.
I had been with Webster since we joined our unit. We trained together, did two tours to Iraq and came back. I spent a great deal of time with him in Iraq and we got to know each other a little better. We Went drinking a few times when we came back. Last time I saw him was 1 week before my end of active duty service. He said he was happy for me, but I felt for him because all the people he knew were getting out or had gotten out. Today I spoke with another friend and asked about Webster and that is how I found out what happened. It broke me down. Needless to say he'll remain in our memories for ever.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you found out the hard way. That must have been very shocking for you.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that it has been almost 15 months since you left us.Yet it seems like yesterday when your mom called with the terrible news.It was a call that changed my life forever.You were a great guy and Johns other half.There is not a day that goes by that he does'nt speak of you.We miss everyday. although you are gone from this earth you are with us always.
ReplyDeleteHe was my uncle I just found this video of him murdering a box https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ypSvc87aY
ReplyDeleteSo I decided to google his name and found this it makes me sad