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Nicole Wright/Staff Correspondent Lorrie Rooney with her son, Staff Sgt. Alan Rooney of the U.S. Marine Corps. after one of his deployments to Afghanistan. Alan took his life in November 2020. His mother honors him in her role as new director of the local nonprofit Warriors Veteran Outreach.
Murphy Lorrie Rooney’s dedication to her position as director of Warriors Veteran Outreach stems from an intensely personal connection to the average of 22 U.S. military veterans who take their lives each day.
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Her diminutive stature belies a strength not found in many individuals, a resilience born of first being a mother of four, then her acute senses of both the duty and necessity to serve her country. That started by working with government defense contractors and was sealed by the loss of her son, Alan J. Rooney, in 2020.
Rooney’s role in the all-volunteer, nonprofit organization began with her move to Cherokee County almost four years ago. That was a respite from her traveling life as a working mother and after going through a divorce.
“My fiancé and I were looking for a place, and we drove through the area and fell in love with the scenery and the people. We found a place with the intention of bringing our parents with us, but that didn’t work out, with both our fathers passing away before the move could be made,” she said.
“Then, I lost Alan.
“My first involvement was over three years ago, when I moved here. The first 22-Mile Hump I walked was in honor of Christopher Lockett; I met his mom and walked with her because we both lost our sons in the same way. Alan was honored in the 2022 walk, so it’s something we have to continue.”
Classified systems
Rooney’s patriotism began working with classified systems with government contractors.
“I worked for a company called TASC [formerly known as The Analytic Sciences Co.], which is a private defense contractor. So a lot of my work was classified, a lot of my work I couldn’t talk about,” she said.
“I worked on classified information then, when I went to Raytheon, working on missiles, radars. But Alan understood to a certain extent what I did.”
Her young son’s innocent understanding of her role in America’s defense became the inspiration for his own service in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“When 9/11 happened, I sat down with him and explained what was going on. He was only 6 years old, but he knew, he understood,” Rooney said.
“He was really inspired by what I was doing, and he decided he wanted to join the military. Then once he did, he was deployed to Afghanistan.”
‘Suicide Charley’
After Alan’s enlistment in 2011, he was eager to take any available training. He excelled in basic training and all subsequent coursework.
Rooney proudly recalled her son’s service.
“He had already started working with the Marines before he was 18 years old because he wanted to be ready for his enlistment,” she said. “When he returned from Afghanistan, he was officially a member of ‘Suicide Charley.’ ”
“Suicide Charley” is installed within the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, an infantry battalion within the Marine Corps. The name stems from the “First Teams” actions during World War II in the Pacific Theater, specifically the battles of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.
“So he comes back from Afghanistan and has to decide what he wants to do next during his service. And he tells me that he wants to be an explosive ordnance technician, a bomb technician,” Rooney said.
“And I’m like, ‘OK, you’re right. I don’t like that, but it’s your life, son, and if it’s what you want to do, then do it. Because we both know you can.’ ”
In typical Marine fashion, do it he did. Rooney described his graduation ceremony at the top of his class as “absolutely beautiful.”
Rooney also described how Alan was deployed two more times, and how “he took every class he could to train for it, for anything and everything.”
She also related his training during this time for becoming an underwater explosives expert as well and how Alan returned to the United States after those deployments, wondering what he would do next in the Corps after achieving his other goals.
‘Black World’
When Alan returned, Rooney said he went to California to await his next assignment. While there, he tried to use available military offerings.
“He reached out for help,” she said. “The only reason I can think of as to why he didn’t receive it is that he was so good at what he did, and so dedicated, that he was just pushed to the side because he was so valued and needed.”
Rooney said there is a gap for enlisted men and women who reach out for assistance with mental health issues because their service is so vital to what the military’s objectives are that sometimes it may difficult to spare them, even temporarily.
“The way that the Marines train you is that they basically cut you down to the bone and rebuild you the way you need to be when you’re in battle,” she said. “I understand that. Because when these men and women get in situations where they have to be able to react, they have to know that the person next to them is going to back them up.
“They teach you to react in any situation and be able to survive it.”
With Alan awaiting his next orders, he took on training in reconnaissance. Rooney called it some of the most difficult training for Marines.
“If you go through this training, the military can send you anywhere in the world. Anywhere. Any soldier,” she said.
“The thing with recon is, you’re never going to know where your child is. Because everything is classified. They call it the ‘Black World.’ Unless you’re the president or some higher-up in the military, you’re in the dark, because they’re the only ones who would know where you are in the world, who your customers are.
“When they told Alan all of this and made it clear he would have zero contact with his family, he recalled when I had traveled for work and how my work was similarly classified, and how I had to be gone and couldn’t talk about it. He said, ‘I can’t do that to my mom.’ ”
After turning down the rigorous parameters of the “Black World,” Alan received orders that his next station would be Okinawa. Rooney recalled telling him, “Wow! That’s awesome!”
However, that station never came to pass. Alan took his own life in November 2020.
‘I’m fine’
Rooney remembered finding out about her son with a phone call.
“All I could think was how he would come home, and as a mother I knew, I knew something was wrong. I knew there were some personal things going on with him, but in my wildest dreams, I never thought about his being depressed,” she said.
“But he was, and there was nothing I could do to help him.”
Rooney is adamant about the training that is both central to creating a good soldier and maintaining that level of sacrifice and service when returning to the civilian world.
“They are trained not to ask for help. They are trained not to seek help. Add the words, ‘I’m fine,’ when they’re asked about how they’re doing. That’s the answer you will always get,” she said.
“And if those words come out of their mouth, they are not.”
‘I’ll take that pain’
In reflecting upon her son’s experience, tears flow as Rooney thinks about Alan not being here. Her thoughts in the last almost four years have shifted from what most people think of when people sadly take their lives, and there is one thing that gets her through a mother’s grief.
“I’ll take that pain for him because he’s not suffering. A lot of people look at suicide as selfish, but they were suffering, and they didn’t know any other way out of that. Whether it’s a veteran or someone in everyday life, they were suffering and there was only one way to end that, and it’s not selfish because it’s not about any other family member or spouse. It’s about them, what they’re going through,” Rooney said.
“So because he’s not suffering anymore, I will take that pain for my son. It doesn’t make it go away, but it helps, because I will take it and handle it.”
‘Duty Phone’
Rooney handles that pain for Alan by channeling it into service to veterans throughout Cherokee County in her first year as director of Warriors Veteran Outreach.
“Everyone here at WVO knows my story,” she said, “and they’re very supportive of me.”
Her role has grown within the organization. When both Dan’o Miller and Gary Wilson stepped down as directors of the program, they encouraged her to take the helm.
“I said, ‘I’m not a veteran, so I don’t know how people would receive me.’ And Gary said, ‘You have the passion, you’ve been here, you’re doing a lot. I think you would be a great director.’ ”
Her responsibilities within the organization includes the “Duty Phone,” a dedicated number reachable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for veterans to reach out for assistance at any time.
“It is busy. When a vet calls, first we have to ‘vet’ them through the (Cherokee County) Veterans Service Office, which helps with providing their DD214, or their discharge record, whether it’s regular or a medical discharge.”
Rooney makes it clear that despite the best efforts, there are simply some veterans the office cannot aid, such as those dishonorably discharged or over the threshold because of monthly pensions or monetary caps decided upon by the organization. In working with the Veterans Service Office, which also advocates for veterans by providing help with medical, mental and physical filing claims with the U.S. Veterans Administration, Warriors Veteran Outreach is more like the support unit.
“We provide material and physical needs, more immediate things. Since we’re an all-volunteer group and 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we rely on sponsorships and donations from local businesses and individuals. Although we have had fundraisers in the past, we do everything either out of our own pocket or through donations which everyone can rest assured is going foremost to help veterans in our area with the greatest needs,” she said.
“If a veteran is renting, that is a more difficult situation if they don’t own the property or house. We can try to contact the landlords, and if they give permission then we may be able to assist in those situations as well.”
Help when we can
Rooney is quick to add that Warriors Veteran Outreach assists member of every branch of military service. Although they cannot help with the processing of claims, whether for medical or disability, they can also steer veterans to the resources available outside of regular bureaucratic channels.
She reinforces the fact that all conversations and information when assisting veterans is confidential, even when working with the Veterans Service Office.
Rooney looks forward to striving to grow the agency with their move to a new facility, which is within the umbrella of another local nonprofit and has allowed Warriors Veteran Outreach to increase its footprint along with providing a new kitchen area.
“A member donated all the kitchen items, including a freezer, stove and dishwasher. We look forward to hosting more events for veterans, an area of community which even individuals or other groups can enjoy if looking for an event space,” she said.
“We’re here to build and heal and help where and when we can. We also offer courses and classes for families and friends of veterans to help identify when their loved one may be struggling and how to be supportive and offer compassionate assistance to them when they are.”
Warriors Veteran Outreach welcomes the public and interested volunteers. The agency meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 315 Family Church Road in Peachtree.
Details: Warriors Veteran Outreach can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 828-557-6881 or visit warriorsveteranoutreach.com.