Today, a Sailor I haven't spoken to in over a decade reached out to me - GM3 Myers. Today is a hard day for him & I, but more so for him. He needed to talk today because this is not pleasant.
14 years ago today, I was the XO of a warship moored at Naval Station Norfolk...
Myers was scheduled to perform a maintenance spotcheck with me on this morning long ago. He was the Duty GM and he called GMSN Hann to relieve him in the armory. I met both of them at the ship's Armory and Myers and I went off to get the spotcheck done. Nothing complicated.
Aft of the Armory, Myers and I started the process of the spotcheck. We both don't remember how far along we had gone into the spotcheck process when we both heard the sound of a gunshot from the direction of the Armory. We stopped and rushed forward to investigate.
The door was locked from the inside. We tried to get Hann's attention in the Armory, but there was no answer. Myers was a hulk of a man, he pried the door open with an axe. He and I rushed inside as I called the Quarterdeck for assistance. We saw Hann laying across the workbench.
Myers and I have never forgotten what we saw today 14 years ago. But unlike me, Myers never sought out help -- until today. He's a successful small business owner in South Carolina. He never took time to deal with the grief, the pain, and all the other crap.
After a good cry, him on the phone and me in my cubicle at work, I found him resources literally right next to his office to begin his healing. He promised he would begin right after we end the call.
I told him I would drag him to therapy and reminded him he took the hardest step of this process: He asked for help. I told him that is such a huge deal. He sounded encouraged after that. I know he is driven to succeed. He just needed the tools to find this measure of success.
Myers is back on my radar screen. And I will make damn sure he will find and get the help he needs.
As for me, today I will say a prayer for Hann, Myers, & others who have come & gone along my way. I will also be calling my therapist to reinforce what I learned with her.
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