Marine Staff Sergeant Charles E. Dane
July 14, 1971 ~ June 25,
2009
4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
4th Marine Division, Fort Detrick, MD
37, of Manchester, NH; died as a result of service to our country
4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
4th Marine Division, Fort Detrick, MD
37, of Manchester, NH; died as a result of service to our country
Eddie, as he was known, was born in Manchester and grew up in Derry. He attended one year at Pinkerton Academy in Derry and was a graduate of Lawrence, Mass., High School in 1989. He served two years in the Army, before returning to his mother Charlen and stepfather Daniel McLean’s home in Auburn NH. Eddie had lived to be a Marine ever since he first saw Clint Eastwood as a gunnery sergeant in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge, he gained his life's purpose in the mid-1990s when he enlisted in the Marines. "That was what he lived for," said stepfather Daniel, who married Charlen when Eddie was a teenager.
Eddie served for 15 years, including three tours in Iraq - one to Iraq volunteering in place of a newlywed soldier - two in Kosovo, and one in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
He was an area coordinator for Toys for Tots while based out of Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., and loved to play chess, video games, and was a sports enthusiast. Most of all, he loved serving his country as a Marine and planned to retire from the USMC one day. Sadly, those plans unraveled in Eddie’s life.
While he was happiest in the Marines, his family has said he longed for a family of his own. When a brief marriage fizzled, he took it to heart. In 2008, he sought counseling after clashing with a superior. He had injured his shoulder while instructing a ropes course and was assigned a desk job while he recuperated, a move his family believe frustrated him, giving him too much time to think about the impending dissolution of a marriage and dealing with emotions he’d carried with him from six tours of battle.
As emotional tumult overcame him, he was arrested twice for drunken driving. Told he would be discharged, his mother said he felt he had nothing left. On June 25, at 37 years old, Eddie took his own life in his barracks in Bridgeport, CA. "To this day, I can't believe he did what he did," said stepfather Daniel. "His zest for life, his strength . . . the only thing I can think of is they were going to take everything from him. He felt he only had one way out."
Though Eddie regularly spent his leave at the Auburn house, he shared very little with his family of his wartime experiences. They knew Eddie had served behind enemy lines with the reconnaissance force, but when Eddie was home, he spent his playing video games with his two teenage siblings, not talking about his years in combat. "When Eddie came home, he left things at the door," Daniel said.
Eddie was buried at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery with full military honors.
His awards and decorations include the Navy Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, six Sea Service Deployment Ribbons as well as the Combat Action Ribbon.
Eddie is survived by his mother, Charlen J. McLean and stepfather Daniel E. McLean; brother, Daniel McLean; sister, Jennifer McLean, and a large extended family.
Eddie served for 15 years, including three tours in Iraq - one to Iraq volunteering in place of a newlywed soldier - two in Kosovo, and one in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
He was an area coordinator for Toys for Tots while based out of Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., and loved to play chess, video games, and was a sports enthusiast. Most of all, he loved serving his country as a Marine and planned to retire from the USMC one day. Sadly, those plans unraveled in Eddie’s life.
While he was happiest in the Marines, his family has said he longed for a family of his own. When a brief marriage fizzled, he took it to heart. In 2008, he sought counseling after clashing with a superior. He had injured his shoulder while instructing a ropes course and was assigned a desk job while he recuperated, a move his family believe frustrated him, giving him too much time to think about the impending dissolution of a marriage and dealing with emotions he’d carried with him from six tours of battle.
As emotional tumult overcame him, he was arrested twice for drunken driving. Told he would be discharged, his mother said he felt he had nothing left. On June 25, at 37 years old, Eddie took his own life in his barracks in Bridgeport, CA. "To this day, I can't believe he did what he did," said stepfather Daniel. "His zest for life, his strength . . . the only thing I can think of is they were going to take everything from him. He felt he only had one way out."
Though Eddie regularly spent his leave at the Auburn house, he shared very little with his family of his wartime experiences. They knew Eddie had served behind enemy lines with the reconnaissance force, but when Eddie was home, he spent his playing video games with his two teenage siblings, not talking about his years in combat. "When Eddie came home, he left things at the door," Daniel said.
Eddie was buried at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery with full military honors.
His awards and decorations include the Navy Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, six Sea Service Deployment Ribbons as well as the Combat Action Ribbon.
Eddie is survived by his mother, Charlen J. McLean and stepfather Daniel E. McLean; brother, Daniel McLean; sister, Jennifer McLean, and a large extended family.
