A Different Perspective
Just minutes ago I received some very sad news. Jesse Marcel, Jr. died of a heart attack on August 24. He was alone, at home, apparently reading a UFO book when he died.I have known Jesse for more than a quarter century. I first met him while we both were in Roswell to film a segment for the old Unsolved Mysteries that aired on NBC. We had gone out to dinner with a number of those in town for the program and since we shared a military background, including that of Army Aviation, we connected immediately. As medical doctor, he was trained as a flight surgeon and I, of course, had been a helicopter pilot.
From that point I met him quite a few times as we both explored the
Roswell UFO crash case. He, as a young man, boy really, of eleven was exposed to
metallic debris that his father had brought home late that July night. He told
the story to all who would listen with little in the way of
variation.
I learned of the special bond hed had with his father. He told me that
that one day, he had asked his father what the atomic bomb looked like and
Jesse, Sr. had drawn a picture of Fat Man. He then shredded it and burned the
pieces. Although reluctant to share they story outside a small circle of
friends, he did mention it at the Citizen Hearing in Washington this last
May.
But what I think of mostly, these days is his military service. He had
retired from the Montana National Guard as a colonel but was recalled to active
duty for service in Iraq. Before he deployed, he asked me if he should take a
personal computer with him and I said it had been the best investment I had
made, if only for the DVD player in it.
His service there seems to have affected him more deeply than did mine.
He spent a year there treating those who needed his help, but came back
suffering from PTSD. The deployment cost him his medical practice because he
could no longer trust his hands. Loud, sudden noises caused him to jump. He was
more on edge, nervous, than he had been before going to Iraq. It was something
that the government failed to recognize in the way they should have. He was a
patriot who served without complaint, did what was asked of him and made the
sacrifices he had to make.
He did call the International UFO Museum in Roswell this year telling
them that this would probably be the last year he could attend. His health,
while seeming not all that bad, did limit what he could do and how far he could
travel. I suspect that he thought his health would deteriorate making a trip to
Roswell extremely difficult if not impossible in the near future.
Jesse was a friend and a fellow warrior. I always believed that he understood more about my service in foreign lands because he shared those experiences. We connected on a level that others could not because of that military experience. Though we were never in the war zones at the same time, we did see many of the same places under similar circumstances. He served when he was needed, helped those who needed it, and contributed to our knowledge. I know that I will miss him, though not as much as his family.
