As Jacob and David were walking into a 7-Eleven, a homeless man approached them begging for money. Jacob reached into his pocket, pulled out a five-dollar bill and gave it to the homeless man. When the man reached for it, Jacob maintained a tight grasp. The man suddenly turned and looked up at Jacob, holding the bill tightly.
Jacob looked him right in the eye and said, “I want you to know you’re worth it.”
As the homeless man walked toward the convenience store, he turned back and with an astonished look on his face said, “What did you say?”
Jacob pulled up his pant leg and revealed his prosthetic leg and said, “I want you to know what I did for this country is for you. You’re worth it, and you’re worth that money.”
“Life is about those 7-Eleven moments and you may never know the outcome but that’s not why you do it,” said David Vobora, founder of Adaptive Training Foundation.
Every day, 22 veterans commit suicide. To help awareness and prevention of suicide, Cpl. Jacob Schick (ret.) told his story about his life and the help he received to that prevented him from committing suicide.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY
Schick grew up in Bossier City, Louisiana. He lived there until he was 12 and then moved to Texas. Around the age of eight, he knew that he wanted to be a Marine.
His grandfather was a Marine in World War II. His grandmother told him all the stories about his grandfather and it was a heavy influence on him. Jacob’s uncle was a 2nd generation Marine, following in the footsteps of Jacob’s grandfather.
“I knew at a very young age that I was going to be a Marine,” said Schick.
Schick’s grandfather and uncle both left the Marine Corps as corporals. He decided early on that he needed to raise the bar. His plan was to become a mustang, which is a Marine officer who was once enlisted.
Jacob signed up to enlist at the beginning of his senior year of high school in 2000 as a reservist. He went to boot camp a month after the 9/11 attacks.
“I knew day one when I stepped on the yellow footprints that I was destined to be here at this moment in time,” said Schick.
After boot camp, he went to the School of Infantry (West) Camp Pendleton, California, where he was trained as a rifleman. Schick said he thoroughly enjoyed it and is still in touch with Marines from recruit training and SOI.
Schick later reported to 1st battalion, 23rd Marines, and deployed to Iraq in 2004.
Before deployment, Schick thought he knew what teamwork and the “one team, one fight” concept was all about, but he learned quickly he didn’t. He fully grasped the idea through brotherhood, sacrifice and suffering during his deployment in Iraq.
“The fact is, when we’re at our highest high we’re together, and when we’re at our lowest low it’s together,” said Schick. “We did it as a family as one unit. So I learned that I could depend on the Marine to my left and right no matter what.
“No matter what circumstance may arise, they are willing to die for me and I am willing to die for them,” Schick added. “I think it goes without saying that is what makes us the best in the world.”
Early in the morning Schick’s unit had gotten a reaction call. The night previously they had captured two hostages and had a stand off that lasted well into the night.
His Marines had been sleeping for a half hour and Schick himself hadn’t gotten any sleep, when they got the reaction call.
