Marine Corporal Richard McShan, formerly of Colorado Springs, Colorado, beloved son of Paul and Angelika McShan.
Cpl Richard McShan passed away while on active duty with the United States Marine Corps. He was with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Fox Company based out of Twentynine Palms, California.
An excerpt from Marine Parents:
Ricky McShan, who had been deployed once to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, had recently re-enlisted. He was scheduled to join a company preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Busy with the process of leaving Twentynine Palms, he did not attend the suicide-prevention session.
His memorial service at the base chapel reflected the heightened attention suicide is getting among the troops. It was more a warning than a remembrance.
“My sole purpose in being here today is to keep someone else from feeling this pain,” McShan told the gathering of Fox Company, in which his son had served. He stood before pews of Marines in camouflage uniforms and told them that standing at his son’s bedside in the hospital and watching him die “is the most miserable feeling you can have. Don’t let what I feel now happen to your parents.”
Cpl Richard McShan lost his battle with PTS on April 1, 2009. He was 23 years old.
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