We Were Marines Who Did Everything Together. Then My Name Appeared in His Suicide Note

[Tony]

That’s where I met a fellow Marine whom I’m going to call “William.” William was quick-witted, magnetic, reckless in the way only a 19-year-old far from home can be. We hit it off immediately. On days off, we’d hit clubs and discos. On duty, we joked, argued, and covered for each other.

It wasn’t profound, but it was consistent. The kind of friendship that forms in repetition—forged in boredom, pressure, and shared volume. We did everything together.