Lee Richard Galloway was a friend of mine whom I knew since Junior High School at Anderson W. Clark Junior High School, in La Crescenta, California.
After commencement from Clark, we continued our education at Herbert Hoover High School, Glendale, California. I didn't know Lee as well as I wish I had, but I remember Lee as a very outgoing, friendly guy, who had many friends.
He was an outstanding Honor Student, and was also active in many school activities and clubs, and was a great athlete. He was voted Most Valuable Player on the Hoover Varsity Football team, 1961-62. I wish I had gotten to know Lee better in Junior and Senior High School, but we were in different groups back then.
Lee graduated with me in 1962, and continued his education. I enlisted in the Navy. and graduation was the last time I would ever see Lee Galloway again.
The years would come and go, and then came 1967, and our Five year Reunion. At this get-together, word circulated around that several of our classmates had died. One, Greg Kelly, who gave his life in Vietnam in June of that year. I was deeply saddened by this news, but then I heard that Lee had also died, but what year, I have yet to discover and I'm just assuming it was 1964, but knew that he had taken his own life.
This caused me deep sadness and concern. It was difficult for me to understand how such a good looking young guy, who seemed to have everything going for himself, could be forced to such a final decision as to taking his own life. Then the thought came to me, that perhaps I didn't know Lee as well as I should have. I felt bad that I hadn't tried to make a difference in his life. What sadness he bore? What strife? What loneliness that I could have filled; so perhaps I could have made a difference to him, and saved him from ending his life so tragically.
I am sure most young people have had suicidal thoughts at one time or another when their worlds seem to be crashing down on top of them. The loss of someone they love, or thought they loved; the loss of a loved one who had died; the disaffection of parents, and so on.. This mystery has become something of an enigma and a conundrum of mental strife on my behalf. I am sure others who knew Lee have had similar thoughts and even guilt over his decision to end his life.
Here is a young man who had everything going for himself. He was popular, likable, sincere, and friendly. He had a huge following of friends. What desperation drove him to believe that life was not worth living any longer. I feel especially impotent in this because I have always been a caring individual who would go the second mile for anyone I cared about. I would have certainly gone many many more miles for Lee, had he only asked me to do so, or had I known that he was in such mental anguish.
GUILT
There is a certain amount of guilt that is left with survivors who must forever feel diminished and impotent when someone they know and care about, takes their life. It is a wound that can never heal, and answers that never come.
But for the time that this page remains on the Internet, I would like those who come and visit it, to know that I intend to keep the memory of Lee Galloway alive so that he will never be forgotten.
SUICIDE IS NOT THE ANSWER
I wish to tell others through this site, who suffer and consider a similar choice of escape from their troubles, that suicide is never the easy way out, for those you leave behind will suffer the rest of their lives, while you think your suffering will end. But to leave loved ones behind in such a state of sorrow and bewilderment, will increase your own, where you will be, for there is no death in dying and no escape from sorrow, if you leave the world in such a state of mind. That same state of mind will continue on with you, where you will find yourself. So it behooves you to seek some kind of solace, respite and peace in this life; even if it means you must seek it from professional help. I suggest you talk these concerns over with a loved one or your priest, pastor or rabbi. Death was never intended to be a release. It is merely the end of mortal existence; but the spiritual existence continues on throughout eternity. So think on these things before you decide to end your own life. Suicide is NOT the answer. Faith is!
I would also wish it known that I would have done anything I could have done to save this friend from his sorrow and sadness, had I the power or knowledge about his suffering, to do so. Many of us are equally troubled by the weight of cares and concerns. Without friendship and someone willing to help carry burdens, we are left to our own weakened devices to continue. When that weakness is to a point of breaking, and if there is no one there to shore and bear us up, we will most certainly go down to the depths of despair, where life doesn't seem worth living any longer. Had I been there for Lee at this moment in his own life, I would have done all I had power to save him from self-destruction, and Lee would still be with us today. So, friend, trust first in the Lord (See Proverbs 3:5), then trust in a loyal friend; if you can consider anyone in your life as this loyal, they, without any doubt, will be there for you, and will not judge you; but only love you and give you aid and support. That is a promise!
My statement here is to ask all concerned individuals to First be watchful and more than casually concerned about friends you know. If you know of someone in your life who is suffering similar feelings of loneliness, isolation and despair, to be extremely mindful of them, and even supportive of them, for you never know that the next time you hear of them, you will hear that they took their life, and the bridge of Help to them, then, has forever been burned. Don't let that happen ever!
We have to be more involved with each other in this modern era, so that Love can again be the fabric that binds us all together as members of the human family. It has gone on too long, that we have disassociated ourselves with intimacy and personal relationships. It's time that we return to God and to the Love that He has spread abroad in the world through his beloved son, Jesus Christ. Faith in His promises, and in His Word, and in the Joy of living the "Abundant Life" as He taught, is the way we can find the Hope that we all need for the future, in this life and in the future one as well.
Now, I and others who knew Lee, and loved him, must trust in the Love of a Caring and Loving Father in Heaven to Save Lee from future sadness. We must trust in God to understand Lee and why he did this, for I know that God knows us better than we know ourselves and what often drives us to despair that is driven to a point that we give up all will to live.
TRUST IN THE LOVE OF GOD
I trust in God's Love so much for us, and this is why I pray that Lee, where he is, might be reconciled to God, so that he might live forever in the Light of God's Forgiveness, Love and Exalted Presence, where we all may soon gather. It is my hope that I might, in that Day, greet him again.
I trust in God's Love more than life itself. I know that there, in the shelter of His Wings is Healing; I also know that there, we will see all our loved ones again. This is my Faith and my Hope and my Trust.
"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust" (Psalms 91:4).
Rest in Peace, dear friend Lee Richard Galloway. I long to see your face again and hear your laughter and your kind voice, for there has been a deep void here without you, my friend!
This Momorial was placed here for those who knew you by your friend and classmate, KWJ.
Suicide Wall Home Page is for Vietnam
Veterans who have taken their lives
(our other casualties)
