June 15, 2021 • Volume 24, Issue 12 • Complimentary • BlufftonSun.com
INSIDE • Legacy nonprofits merge to become stronger organization 14A • DRCI kicks off new program for veterans, first responders 19A • Daughter’s final wish for dad takes them to beach 20A • Mobile vet goes to dogs’ house 23A • Entrepreneur makes sense of photos 25A
Combat vets unite to prevent suicide, provide sanctuary By Gwyneth J. Saunders CONTRIBUTOR
On the Saturday before Memorial Day, more than 40 combat veterans, family members and volunteers raised a 60-foot flagpole at the entrance to a private outdoor recreational retreat. It took almost a year to get to that stage, but since July 2020, Operation Patriots: Forward Operating Base (OPFOB) has been fulfilling its mission “to create and foster positive experiences for combat veterans by connecting through outdoor and recreational activities.” The 268-acre facility in Ridgeland – formerly the Malphrus Oaks Plantation – is the vision of Roy “JR” Brown, Jr., a former U.S. Marine Corps K-9 handler. It’s a place where he hopes other combat veterans like himself will feel comfortable coming to relax, enjoy the outdoor opportunities and, more importantly, feel safe in sharing their stories with others who had similar combat experiences. “I spent three years in Iraq, and unfortunately I lost more guys to suicide than I did when I was in combat,” said Brown. “Basically, I dealt with my own demons. When I started working with Labs for Liberty, a nonprofit that provides service dogs to primarily the special operations community,
that just stirred a passion in me to give back to veterans.” Brown was diagnosed with PTSD in 2005. He handled both a dope dog and a bomb dog, and while serving with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines from 2004 through 2005, he handled a bomb dog in Iraq. “I was embarrassed. I didn’t want people to know,” he said. “But when we started this whole process, I started sharing my story – some of the things that I’ve dealt with and my demons. I’ve noticed that when I talk to veterans and I share some of my stories and experiences, they feel more enlightened to open up about their own stories because they think, ‘Wow, this guy knows exactly what I’m talking about’,” Brown said. That realization started Brown thinking about how he could give back. “So, I’m not a trained counselor at all, but I’ve learned that when guys want to talk, just shut the heck up and just let ’em talk,” he said. “They’re not looking for answers. They know I don’t have all the answers for everything. They just want to talk and get it off their chest to somebody they feel comfortable with because they’ve gone through the same things.” A lot of those experiences are shared around the heart of the OPFOB center: a firepit next to the main barn. It’s been in steady use since last July, but in the 21 days
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COURTESY OPFOB
Visitors to the Operation Patriots - Forward Operating Base (OPFOB) facility in Ridgeland watch as the bonfire blazes on Memorial Day.
leading up to Memorial Day, volunteers kept the fire going in honor of those 22 veterans a day who take their own lives. Brown said he knew five guys who took their lives in a 13-month span in 2019. On Memorial Day – the 22nd day – a handful of volunteers carried coals from the firepit to an enormous stack of scrap
lumber and dead trees in a large field on the property, and set it ablaze under the watchful eyes of the Ridgeland Fire Department and OPFOB’s growing family. “The whole concept of OPFOB is try to prevent veteran suicide. One veteran
Please see VETERANS on page 8A