Maurice Bishop

Unheard Story Of A U.S. Army Soldier

My name is Maurice Wisdom Bishop and I am 34 years old currently serving in the U.S. Army. This is my story. I deployed in Iraq for 13 months. While I was there a soldier in my unit shot himself with an M-16 and the 5.56mm round hit him in the quadrum of his heart and he died. I felt so much guilt because I was one of the soldiers that pushed him away when he really needed someone to talk to. Remind you I was someone that didn't mind helping anybody but because of the countless times of getting in trouble with my 1st Sergeant and chain of command because of his careless actions I ignored him and didn't want anything to do with him. I still remember his words till this day, "I'm sorry and if you can give me 10 seconds of your time..." and before he could finish his sentence I shouted "LEAVE ME ALONE!" There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of his words, "If you can give me 10 seconds of your time.." If I would of listen for those 10 seconds would he still be alive? Could my words made a difference in his life? And these are the questions that haunted me everyday.