Recently I was contacted by Jim Downs, who is working with the widow of Bob Sharton, to deal with his suicide. From what I know, Bob suffered many years with PTSD, and had a hard time dealing with military campaigns over the years. The Iraq war drove him over the edge and he ended his life recently.From what little I know of Bob, he was in H&S 2/7 and the major trauma in his life seems to ahve occurred during Operation Taylor Common. I was a crew member with HMM-165 (CH-46's) 9th MAB off the USS Tripoli, and Marble Mountain during those days. I remembered Medae River, which I was heavily involved in, but did not recall Taylor Common.
I don't have the info to contact Bob's widow, but Jim Downs can be reached at 1303 Crestridge DR, Oceanside, CA 92054, or emailed at downs24@cox.net. Perhaps some of you knew Bob, and could help these people out in dealing with the pain. Thanks
And I would love to hear from some of you, maybe some that were on those awful outposts just north of 327 and west of Red Beach that we used to have to back up upon to delvier supplies. Thinking about going back myself in the future with at least one of my brothers (There were seven of us, and we lost two in 1967 in I-Corps). Myself, I thank the 7th Marines for saving my ass on the side of Charlie Ridge after we got shot down.
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