Stories of War: A brotherhood that brought faith and friendship

Brotherhood, a term that is often tossed around in the military.

For some, brotherhood can mean the difference between an enjoyable retirement, and a lonely retirement.

For Michael Taylor, brotherhood led him to faith and friendship.

Right after high school, Taylor spent four years in the United States Army as a mechanic and 17 years in the Marine Corps.

As a troubled youth, Taylor turned to the military for a sense of security.

“I know it’s secure enough for my family and they have medical and dental and all that and being a mechanic, it just worked out for me to be a helicopter mechanic. So I just wanted security for my family and I know that’s why my dad did it too,” said Taylor.

His tours took him around the world, from Guam to the Philippines, Singapore to Thailand, and Okinawa to California.

His co-workers around him soon became his brothers.

“It felt special being a part of it the Marine Corps is more like a brotherhood and then being out in town it wasn’t like, ‘hey, I’m a Marine.’ I’m a Marine, but I can still help I know a lot of ways that I can help other people do things too,” said Taylor.

Taylor said it was comforting to have a spouse while overseas because he always had someone who understood what he was going through

“I think being married helped out a lot being in the military it’s hard at times but then I have somebody that I am more able to share a confidence with because I have a closer relationship with her. So I can talk to her about things that I wouldn’t normally feel comfortable talking about with my superiors,” said Taylor.

That lack of support sometimes brings loneliness, something Taylor said often pushes veterans into a depression or even suicide. This is an experience Taylor knows all too well.

“My first experience with suicide, we had watched a movie. There were three of us in a room in Okinawa, we watched a movie together and he was walking around the room packing up stuff and we didn’t really pay attention to it but after the movie was over we just left the room and then 15 minutes later the MP’s came and got us and they had found him hanging from the ceiling by a shoelace,” said Taylor.

Taylor advises people with family in the military to know the signs.

“A lot of us get caught up in our own thing and we don’t pay attention to the people we think we’re close with. If something is off, don’t be afraid to talk to them. You know a lot of people find it hard to open up like you said a lot of veterans do struggle with that. A lot of men are raised that way but recognize the signals and start poking at each other ask them about it,” said Taylor.

Taylor said he was lucky to have his close friends to turn to when times got tough.

“We were such a tight group back then everybody knew everybody from Fludd equipment to maintenance control avionics everybody knew everybody, and that kind of camaraderie kind of teaches you that relationships can be that close it can be possible,” said Taylor.

Though Taylor used the military as an outlet for his life, he continued to feel there was something missing.

“There was something that I felt was missing. I remember there was a song called ‘God-shaped Hole’ because we all feel there something missing like there’s something more and once I came to faith at that church then the void got filled,” said Taylor.

Because of his faith, Taylor believes that his choice to serve in the military was God’s plan for his life.

“God made my path for a reason so I have nothing to regret. Yeah, I got into a little trouble, things could’ve been different, but it happened for a reason and those things that happened in my life for a reason. Good, bad, and different made me who I am today,” said Taylor.

His advice to veterans?

Know you’re not alone, t here is someone out there who understands. For Michael, that someone came in the form of man’s best friend.

“When I first started to hear about depression and suicide, I didn’t understand it. But there are times when I go through depression and now I think, ‘Oh, I can understand why people commit suicide.’ Three years ago, I started volunteering at the humane society working with the dogs and thinking, ‘I’m an introvert. Nobody wants to talk to me, nobody understands,’ but working with the dogs, no matter how much pain I’m in, how depressed I am, or how bad I’m feeling, I go there and start working with the dogs because they’re non-judgmental. They just want to make you happy. They call it unconditional love. I mean dogs are gods gift to man,” said Taylor.

If you are someone struggling with PTSD or depression, there can be a relatively inexpensive technique that has changed veterans’ lives for the better.

This solution can come with four paws, a wet nose and very specialized training: service dogs.

Veterans who utilize service dogs report lower levels of depression and anxiety, fewer hospitalizations, and numerous other benefits.

To contact the Humane Society of Yuma and see how you can volunteer or adopt a companion, visit hsoyuma.com.