Retired marine captivates during Bristol's Veterans Day Ceremony

By Ethan Hartley
Posted 11/18/21

Retired USMC Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Ortega stole hearts and made tears flow during the annual Veterans’ Day Ceremony, held at the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol on Nov. 11.

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Retired marine captivates during Bristol's Veterans Day Ceremony

Posted

At an event where over a dozen high ranking state and local officials, including the celebrated Army veteran and Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, Jack Reed, gave their remarks, it was retired USMC Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Ortega who stole hearts and made tears flow during the annual Veterans’ Day Ceremony, held at the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol on Nov. 11.

“I had the distinct pleasure of serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I witnessed some bad things happen to great people, and I also witnessed great people do heroic feats,” he began in his keynote address. “Through my entire time in both countries, I know one thing: death doesn’t care what side you’re fighting on, it comes all the same.”

Ortega was involved in an IED (improvised explosive device) attack on his Humvee, which killed multiple of his fellow marines and caused the heavy armored vehicle to roll over and trap him.

“Once the vehicle stopped, I was held in between, crushed, and couldn’t move. To this day as I stand here right now I can still smell and taste the smoke and the oil from the Humvee. This is one of many episodes that I relive every day of my life,” he recalled, choking up for a second before continuing. “Every day when I’m eating, when I’m playing with my kids, when I’m at school, when I’m watching TV, when I’m walking — every day of my life, it comes to me.”

Ortega spoke about how his battle with PTSD, while ongoing, has been aided through his religion, his deep dive into the world of photography, and the various programs available to veterans through the VA and independent nonprofits. He is due to graduate soon with a Master’s degree in photography.

“My camera was my safe zone. It was the buffer that I needed to start letting others back in. I started feeling comfortable around others,” he said. “Was it easy? Not one bit. It still isn’t. It’s a work in progress.”

Ortega said that, while some 7,000 service members have died in combat during the two decades of involvement in the Middle East, more than four times as many have died in that time to suicide. He gave a raw, detailed account of how PTSD feels when a soldier goes through it.

“This is a disease that eats away at you from the inside. Eats everything you love,” he said. “It goes so deep inside your soul, sometimes you can barely breathe. You can barely talk. You can’t even reach out your hand. You wake up with a pain and pressure inside your head. You feel alone when your house is full of people. Scared, when you’re safe. Your body senses are on high alert all the time. No matter what anyone tells you, you’re never safe. It’s an exhausting feeling. Someone is always trying to kill you in your head, and you’re always trying to think about how to stop that threat that isn’t there.”

Ortega said that in addition to family members being there to offer their hand and their patience to any soldier going through that experience, each individual soldier has the responsibility to look out for their own mental wellbeing, too.

“There are a million organizations that can help you out. Find one and take that first step,” he said. “Go to your local VFW Post and attend meetings. Be an active participant in your mental health. It’s your life, you have to take control of it. God puts people in your life for a reason, let them help you.”

Kasim Yarn, Rhode Island’s Director of Veterans Services, was visibly crying when he took to the podium following Ortega’s speech.

“We put our heart and soul into this organization,” he said, voice cracking. “This is why our elected officials need to hear from our veterans. They need to hear from our families. Advocate, plant a seed on our behalf. I can’t do this work alone, and our veterans can’t do this work alone. We need all of Rhode Island, with a closed fist, delivering a collective impact to enhance the veteran experience. And we can do it.”

Officials praise Veterans Home
Of the wide variety of speakers, which included Governor Dan McKee, Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressmen David Cicilline and Jim Langevin, Lt. Governor Sabina Matos, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, Attorney General Peter Neronha, Bristol Town Administrator Steven Contente, and State Senator Walter Felag, many heaped praise on the Bristol-based Rhode Island Veterans Home as a pinnacle of veteran care in the country.

“It’s our turn to make sure that every veteran gets the service that he or she needs,” said Senator Reed. “And that’s why this facility is so inspiring to me. It represents I think the best state veterans home in the country…The real core are the men and women who work here —those staffers who give of themselves unselfishly to protect and provide, particularly in this pandemic, which has made it very difficult.”

“It makes me think of what we owe our veterans, and what we’ve done to make sure that we honor that debt,” said Senator Whitehouse, whose father was a Marine Corps pilot in WWII. “Part of it is this building behind us — your home. Thank you for inviting us today to your home. You have earned it in the most magnificent way. And we’re delighted that Rhode Island has one of the best veterans homes in the country.”

Sen. Felag provided context to the importance of the day itself, but also a reminder to remember the sacrifice of military veterans indefinitely.

“This morning I took a walk in the Town of Warren and passed one of the veterans monuments. There were three words that bolted out at me and is appropriate at this time when we honor our veterans. It was ‘lest we forget.’ Those three words are so important to us as we thank our veterans and continue these fine traditions,” he said.

“We will never give up recognizing the feats of bravery and dedication exhibited by our veterans who never gave up on us,” he continued. “Again, lest we forget.”

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