We are back to this day again.

I always wonder how his family gets through today. I was a Lance Corporal on deployment and didn’t know Captain Brock personally although we sat closely to each other. Sometimes, I feel pretty stupid to say I sat next to him but I didn’t know him. I don’t think it’s something my civilian peers would understand especially in light of how much the manner of his death affects me. We spent so much of the deployment having close calls until we finally had this incident that took Captain Brock from our team. His assailant doesn’t wear a face I would know and although we worked on the same shift most of my deployment, in the weeks leading up to his death I was reassigned to our night shift.

I don’t think people generally consider how important it for Marines to be there for each other. It wasn’t my decision to leave day shift and while the logical part of me understands there’s nothing I could have done to help, it still bugs me that I wasn’t there in case there is something I could have done. It frustrates me that after dealing with deaths over and over again via our computer screens, one of our team members became a number on the screen.

His family and friends have an honorable mission in continuing Captain Brock’s legacy and I know it’s probably a difficult journey. Captain Brock doesn’t have the name recognition with the American people the way Pat Tillman did, but his service is no less important. I hope as the years progress the foundation in his name thrives; it’s a wonderful mission to help make higher education a more attainable goal to children of killed or injured .

If you have the ability to donate, feel free to check out http://www.seanbrockfoundation.org/donate

Semper Fi,

Cheryl