Green Beret, “Captain America” Master Sgt. Andrew ‘Andy’ Christian Marckesano, Six Tours in Afghanistan Dies

Green Beret Master Sgt. Andrew ‘Andy’ Christian Marckesano succumbed to the demons that haunted him after six tours in Afghanistan. Friends said that he was suffering from PTSD. This week he committed suicide.

In Afghanistan, he served with the 82nd Airborne and the Ranger regiment. He had also deployed on six other overseas missions, Fox News reported, who quoted one of his last messages:

“Text me, I told you before my door is open… my phone is at hand. We did things that people make movies about and in some cases, writers and producers wouldn’t even try to write our story… the rucksack is heavy… and when it gets heavy we [&$#*] help each other, but you have to reach out… Don’t let the Valley win….”

Marckesano AndrewC.Sergeant First Class received a Silver Star for actions in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, DOD reported

Suicides are of great concern to DOD. A report from 2019 was released last September, with Todd Lopez, DOD reporting.

The report shows that in 2018, 541 service members across the military’s active and reserve components died by suicide. Within the active component, the suicide rate was 24.8 per 100,000 personnel. In the service reserves, the suicide rate for 2018 WAS 22.9 suicides per 100,000, and in the National Guard, the 2018 suicide rate was 30.6 per 100,000.

“Across all of our populations, active component, reserve and National Guard, the 2018 suicide rate is statistically consistent over the past two years,” said Elizabeth P. Van Winkle, DOD’s executive director of force resiliency. “However, rates from the active component are statistically higher than rates from the last five years.”

The suicide rate continues at the alarmingly high rate among service members and veterans.