After Iraq veteran's death, a Thanksgiving gift

IONIA - Iraq war veteran Brandon Newcombe spent much of the last year of his life remodeling an old house in Ionia for himself and his family.

Before he finished, he lost his battle with the demons unleashed by post-traumatic stress disorder. Newcombe took his own life in May of 2014.

"There is so much blood, sweat and tears in this house," his widow, Melanie Newcombe, said on Tuesday in the newly refinished second level of the house, where she and her daughter, Teegan, 9, finally have their own bedrooms. "He worked from sunup to sundown on this house for us. He wanted Teegan and I and him to be in this house together."

Volunteers came together after Brandon Newcombe's death to finish the house.  On Tuesday, they presented Melanie and Teegan with a gift card for furniture and a unique four-sided wooden plaque designed to preserve his memory. The plaque, made of Michigan maple and purple heart wood from Brazil, is designed to be taken apart to make two memorials.

"Tonight was part of the healing process, not just for me but for Melanie, Teegan and everyone involved," said Eric Calley, an Iraq veteran who had known Newcombe since high school and mentored him in Ionia County's veterans court. "(We) designed that plaque especially for Teegan and Melanie. When Teegan gets older and moves out of the house, she can take that with her in memory of her dad. When she comes back home, she can bring it back and make it whole again."

Faith Works Michigan, a Rochester non-profit, donated about $10,000 in materials and the labor needed to rebuild a stairway and finish the second floor of the home. Another non-profit, Operation: Come H.O.M.E., based in Washington Township, donated $650 for a bedroom set for Teegan and about $350 to cover the cost of materials for the plaque. The Semper Fi Fund provided a $2,000 Home Depot gift card.

Calley, who lives in Williamston and helps connect Michigan veterans with service dogs, built the elaborate plaque, which has heart-shaped panels and bears an image of Newcombe.

The effort came together after Calley mentioned the family's plight to Jolanthe Bassett, a military spouse and Michigan representative with the Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs. Bassett put Calley in touch with Craig Viges, of the Faith Works group, Calley said.

"We started talking and got a hold of Dan Broihan (of Operation: Come H.O.M.E.)," Calley said. "From there, it just kind of snowballed."

The project took about four months, said Viges, whose group usually does repair projects for elderly women, single mothers and people with disabilities in the Oakland County area. Volunteers drove a long way and put in 12-hour days, he said.

"This was a little out of our wheelhouse, but we were drawn to this project," Viges said. "We couldn't even find anybody around here to come out and do the work. The trades are really busy."

Newcombe was 32 when he died. He joined the Marine Corps out of high school and was part of the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003. He spent a little over seven months in Iraq and four years total in the military. He had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and struggled with PTSD "every single day," Melanie Newcombe said. He began using alcohol and drugs in an effort to cope, she said.

Melanie Newcombe, 29, said she was overwhelmed when she learned about the project.

"I called my mom, bawling my eyes out, because I could not believe this was actually happening to us," she said. "How could something like this just come out of nowhere? I felt like Brandon's life did matter to someone, that him being here mattered enough for someone to take in his family.

"I'm definitely thankful. My heart is pretty whole. And I think Brandon would be very, very thankful - not for him but for his family."