EDITOR’S NOTE: This story covers veteran suicide and mental health issues. If you or somebody you know needs help, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. Veterans can also contact America’s Warrior Partnership for military-focused mental health assistance.
MAYO, MD — Make no mistake, family meant everything to Nick Fogle. He would do anything for his wife and three kids, but he was also a patriot until his final breath.
The atrocities of combat scarred the Army veteran. He would rewatch videos from his combat missions, wondering what he could’ve done differently. Post-traumatic stress disorder claimed Nick Fogle’s life on July 6, 2022, when he died by suicide during his lunch break. He was 38.
Frederick County resident Tricia Fogle still chokes up when speaking about her husband, but she pushes through to underscore the urgency of veterans’ mental health reform.
“Nick was not in denial of having some form of PTSD,” said Tricia Fogle, a Point of Rocks resident. “He actually would say ‘When you have seen what we have seen and had to do what we have had to do, who would not have PTSD?'”
Over the past year, Anne Arundel County veterans and motorcyclists raised $50,000 in Nick Fogle’s memory to support other servicemembers battling the same pain. The campaign culminated Saturday in Mayo with American Legion Cummings-Behlke Post 226 donating the proceeds to a military suicide prevention nonprofit.
Hundreds turned out for the day filled with teary-eyed patriotic displays, all organized by the American Legion Riders motorcycle group.
Veterans saluted the flag during the “Star Spangled Banner” and posed with an oversized check for the charity. Adam’s Ribs catered and donated its profits. Bartender tips and prize drawings also went toward the cause. A motorcycle was even raffled off to raise money.
The fundraiser benefited America’s Warrior Partnership, a national organization that connects veterans with early intervention mental health resources.
AWP noted that veterans are more vulnerable to mental health issues. With roughly 6,400 veteran suicides per year, the veteran suicide rate is 57% higher than that for non-veteran adults.
AWP served over 8,000 veterans in 2023, including 263 who contemplated suicide in the month before AWP contacted them.
The fundraiser will help AWP continue its grassroots efforts.
“I’m here today with a big think you,” AWP Director of Government Relations Darrell Owens said. “We are so thankful for your support. It allows us to continue our mission to help veterans every single day, and I can’t thank you all enough.”
The Legion’s fundraiser also helped families remember Nick Fogle for more than his final days.
Nick Fogle was born into an American military family in Frankfurt, West Germany on Oct. 18, 1983. The soldier tied up his boots and continued the family tradition.
During his 18 years in the Army, the chief warrant officer served as an infantryman, bomb technician and Apache helicopter pilot. He was credited with saving many lives across his six deployments totaling five years in combat zones.
Nick Fogle’s obituary said this earned him honors like the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device and Air Medal with Combat Device.
“Nick was one to set very high goals for himself, and he never stopped until those goals were achieved,” Tricia Fogle said.
Off the clock, Nick Fogle was a prankster known for his smile. A fan of Elvis Presley and playing soccer, he was a compassionate husband of 16 years. He was also a dedicated father to his kids, aged 3, 9 and 11 when he died.
“He was the most attentive person,” Tricia Fogle said. “He wanted to be a part of everything.”
Tricia Fogle met her future spouse when she was 20. She left metropolitan Washington, D.C. and moved to Kansas with him when she was 22. The couple moved another six or seven times after that.
“He was the most protective, loving person that I have ever known in my life. He did everything,” Tricia Fogle said. “It’s very hard because I can never have a relationship ever again because it’ll never [be] equivalent.”
The combat tours weighed heavy on Nick Fogle. He got a tattoo on his arm of a young girl hugging a bomb with the word “No” written across her forehead.
Nick Fogle’s last few months were terrifying. The small changes started in September 2021 and “quickly consumed him,” Tricia Fogle said.
In October 2021, Tricia Fogle found her husband in the bathtub with loud music playing, swinging a gun in his hand. She jumped in and held him tight until he relaxed. The next day Nick Fogle apologized, said he wouldn’t do anything dangerous and asked his wife to tell nobody what happened.
“Sadly, I said nothing, but at this point in time, I was now on very high alert,” Tricia Fogle said. “Over the next several months, those changes became rapid. It was like a complete 180. Heavy drinking, insomnia, short-term memory loss and excessive spending.”
Nick Fogle eventually asked for help in January 2022. He insisted that the therapist and priest must be unaffiliated with the military so he wouldn’t get flagged or lose his job. However, he made excuses and declined every resource his wife offered.
“It was living in a nightmare with not knowing what to do,” Tricia Fogle said.
Comrades noticed a change in Nick Fogle’s demeanor, but they attributed it to normal life stressors. Leadership didn’t notice his chronic work absence until it was too late.
The tragedy inspired Tricia Fogle, a nurse, to move from the emergency room to a psychiatric unit in a jail. Her experience helps her relate to some of the most at-risk patients.
“There will always be a hole in my heart. I wake up and go to sleep daily thinking of Nick,” said his father, Chuck Fogle. “He was a true warrior, and he was our hero.”
Chuck Fogle called for more mental health testing. He lobbied for MRI brain scans before and after deployments to show changes from PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and concussions.
He also pushed for increased neurocognitive assessment.
The Department of Defense currently requires servicemembers to take its computerized Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics test within 12 months before a deployment. In 2021, the DoD endorsed ANAM testing every five years for all troops. The ANAM is required again after brain injuries or a concerning post-deployment health questionnaire.
Chuck Fogle thinks the ANAM should be conducted after every deployment as well. He said this would spot struggling servicemembers, who are reluctant to report mental health issues because they fear it will affect their permanent record and job status.
“Their jobs are their identity, and they don’t want to lose that either,” Chuck Fogle said. “We need to make their invisible wounds visible and therefore treatable.”
Reese Butler, founder of the educational IMALIVE Mental Health Fair, said “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that” record concerns prevent troops from seeking treatment.
“The gap between what we know and what we do is lethal,” said Butler, who also founded the 1-800-SUICIDE lifeline, which is now 988.
Legion leaders reminded veterans that asking for help is not a sign of weakness.
Michael Obremski, Maryland Commander for the Sons of the American Legion, said “Awareness is the key to PTSD.” His three tours in the First Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom still haunt the Navy and Army veteran.
“I do have PTSD, and I am aware of it. I take care of myself,” Obremski said. “I have friends. I have family. That is how you get through a lot of stuff. Therapy helps, but it’s friends and family that really stand behind you and support you.”
American Legion Post 226 Commander Larry Erwin personally donated $500 in cash during his speech. He encouraged everybody to “be the one” to check in on veterans and help them find resources if necessary.
“If one of us can save one, we collectively could save thousands,” Erwin said. “Veterans value courage. It takes courage to ask for help … Take the proactive approach and ask a veteran ‘Are you okay?'”
For now, the Fogles will continue calling for mental health reform for troops.
“They shouldn’t have fear of being flagged, demoted or discharged. A change needs to be universal,” Tricia Fogle said. “If we are able to send them, we must be willing to mend them.”
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