Steve, United States Marine Corps
by Cathy ten Broeke

“At age 17, I went down to the recruitment office on Lake Street. The only recruitment officer not out to lunch was for the Marines. I signed up--I had no idea what I was doing. I volunteered for Vietnam. When you are that young you don’t think about dying. I spent 12 months and 20 days and came back an entirely different person.”

Stephen received a medical discharge. “I was having major, major problems. They got rid of the problem by letting me out.” Stephen withdrew from society for what he describes as “1000 days alone.” Aside from taking in rescued animals, he had given up completely but the animals rescued him: “Even when I didn’t care about my life, I needed to be there for them.”