First Name: Steven
Last Name: Smith
Middle Initial: E
Date of Birth: 07/07/1949
Sex: Male
Martial Status: Not Sure
Number of Children: Yes
Home Town: Freeport, IL
Education Completed: Not Sure
Other Occupations:
Branch of Service: Marines
Highest Rank: SGT
Serial Number: N/A
Platoon: N/A
Age at Start of Service: 18
Years of Service: 5
Combat Veteran: Yes
Time in Combat: Not Sure
Place of Combat: N/A
Awards:
Date of Suicide: 10/1997
Suicide Method: Gun Shot
Veteran’s Story: I cannot yet find the courage to verbalize many things about my dear brother other than my deep love for him and my profound emptiness and loneliness since his death. I miss him every second of every day and I would move heaven and earth if I could to have him back if only to tell him how much I love and miss him and how empty and lost I feel that I could not help him find more happiness in his life. I am deeply sorry for the pain he felt and experienced in his life as a Vietnam veteran who served two tours of duty in Vietnam and who could never find his way back to a happy life. On this Memorial Day, I honor him and the other great men and women who served in Vietnam and all wars, and who serve their country courageously to this day. May God and family and friends (known and unknown) guide your spirits to a happy place in life by knowing that you are loved dearly. Steve was a true blue Marine until the day he died. He didn’t drink our use drugs. He had a lot of medical problems due to Agent Orange. He was never granted disability because the government showed no record of him being in Nam. He was there as an enlisted Marine and served two tours, as a Sgt in the Marine Corp. Steve left a letter on the bed next to his body from the government denying him of disability for the fourth time. We do have his DD2-14 form a without a doubt was in Vietnam for two tours! I guess ht thought he was really showing them. Do they care? I don’t think so. One less person to have to give benefits to. My family and I feel his loss every day. The government doesn’t know it but they lost a wonderful, dedicated Man.
Submitted By: Dena L. Smith-Burke
Relationship to Veteran: Sibling
