Spc. Chancellor A. Keesling
This is one of the saddest stories I've written for IGTNT: 25-year-old Chancellor A. Keesling died on June 19th from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Chance or Chancy, as he was known, was on his second tour of duty in Iraq and was still suffering from the crippling stress of his first overseas tour, according to his father, Gregg Keesling. Chance had just returned to Iraq two weeks earlier, Mr. Keesling said, adding that Chance and his wife had separated during his first deployment, and Chance was 'despondent' over the possibility that a new relationship might be in trouble.
Mr. Keesling noted that his son's firearm was removed from his access for one month during his first tour in Iraq, for fear Chance would hurt himself.
"When he switched to the Reserves, he didn't fit into a unit in Indiana, so he was assigned to a unit in Ohio," Mr. Keesling said. "They let him do his training at Camp Atterbury, but when the time came, he went to war with a bunch of people who he didn't know well. He didn't feel he could reach out to the other soldiers in his unit."
A worried Keesling family, especially his sister, encouraged Chance not to re-deploy. But sadly, unable to find a steady job, Chance signed back on for another tour in Iraq where he would help build roads and other infrastructure. Spc. Keesling was assigned to the 961st Engineer Company out of Sharonville, Ohio.
"He told us he was all right going back, but he was losing weight in the weeks leading up to his redeployment," Mr. Keesling said. "In hindsight, we should have seen this coming."
Mrs. Keesling said that they were troubled by the emails they received from their son. "A lot of them were like, 'I'm trying to get settled in. Its hot, its miserable. It has been a tough deployment for me so far. I miss you guys a lot'," Mrs. Keesling remembered. Knowing that other soldiers find themselves in their son's desperate situation, the Keeslings do believe the Army is working to improve resources for suicidal soldiers but Mr. Keesling said something as simple as giving the family the e-mail address of the unit chaplain could have helped save Chance's life.
"We talked to him 15 hours earlier and told him to go see the chaplain, but he didn't go," Mr. Keesling said. "There was enough time to get to someone to keep this from happening, but we didn't know who (to talk to)."
They plan to use their son's story to better educate the army.
"Hopefully this country will learn lot of how to reach out to soldiers in trouble. And that will be his legacy that will help us do this better," Mr. Keesling explained.
My deep thanks to Caroline, where I found the above three photos of Spc. Keesling.
The magnificent Patriot Guard Riders have been asked by the Keesling family to honor Chance on his final journey. Details are pending, and will be available at the Riders forum where messages of support and sympathy are being left for the family.
Photo caption: An Army carry team carries the remains of Army Spc. Chancellor Keesling during a dignified transfer ceremony Saturday, June 20, 2009, upon his arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Mrs. Keesling said of watching the transfer ceremony, "It's a finale. It's an actual reality check and when I knew that you are actually going to see the box. You face the fact that he's right here in this box."
The Keeslings want some good to come from this tragedy. Mrs. Keesling runs an organization that helps those in need called Keys To Work and they plan to give all donations that will help a specific homeless woman in their son's honor.
"So if we can help, and reach out to you now to help you. We couldn't reach out to Chancy, we couldn't reach him in the time needed. Hopefully we can help now," Mr. Keesling said.
Chancellor A. Keesling is survived by his parents, Gregg and Jannett Keesling, and a sister. Our hearts go out to all who knew and loved Chance Keesling. Please know that we stand beside you at this terrible time of loss.