By William Smith
Retired Col. Pat Coen, superintendent of the Burlington School School District, has seen things no one should have to witness.
That’s why he served. That’s why all of America’s soldiers serve—to keep the horrors of war away from home.
“They called World War I the war to end all wars. That didn’t exactly work out,” Coen said.
Coen spoke of his days of patrolling Taliban and Al-Qaeda hotspots on the Pakistan border. During that time, Coen commanded forward operating base Camp Joyce. The camp was named for a young corporal – just 20 years old – who died on Coen’s birthday.
“Each birthday, I wake up early, I go to Aspen Grove (Cemetery), and I go to the soldier’s plot – the Civil War plot. I like to read their tombstones, and I pray, and I stand there and reflect, and then I go back home,” he said.
Later in the morning, the birthday wishes start rolling in. For Coen, the day is forever linked to a fresh-faced kid who never got a chance to live the kind of life he should have.
“June 25 is the day Corporal Joyce bled out at the base I commanded,” he said. “I think about his mom. Did he have a girlfriend? Did he have a wife?”
The toll on a soldier’s life lasts forever, impacting some more than others.
After serving in Afghanistan, Coen tried to help out of one of the men in his squad by writing a letter describing the operations they served on together in Afghanistan and the horrifying things they saw. The soldier told Coen the letter was for the Veterans Administration, to help him receive the proper benefits.
“What kind of commander wouldn’t do everything he possibly could for one his soldiers?” Coen said, accepting the request with gusto. Coen’s old friend did not take the letter to the VA. Coen never could have imagined what came next.
“He promptly sent it (the letter) to his estranged wife and kids, and shot himself. He tricked me into writing his suicide letter. I still love him to death, and I can’t wait to see him again someday,” Coen said.
Coen called on everyone in the crowd to lend their help, or to seek help, for a veteran or anyone who is thinking of taking their own life. He encouraged veterans who are struggling to seek that help.
“Talk to another veteran. Go somewhere and get some help,” Coen said. “We cannot lose our soldiers, our warriors, because we’re not giving them the help they need.”