MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS
JOSH COLLILUORI
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD
Editor’s Note: This article talks about suicide and may not be suitable for all readers.
Catherine “Cathy” Ardrey remembers previous holidays fondly – her son celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays with her – his days in the Boy Scouts and other cherished moments.
Remembering those days and a small memorial in her home are all she has now.
Her son, 27-year-old former Marine Colby Manes Ardrey, died by suicide in November 2023, not long after he left the service. Ardrey was a proud Buda resident and a member of Cub Scout Pack 218 and Boy Scout Troop 128, where he achieved a Triple Crown and earned his Eagle Scout rank with Troop 218. It also is where donned his first set of uniforms.
He was later known for his outstanding skill as a football lineman, his twin-sister Claire Ardrey said. But a serious back injury forced Ardrey to shift his focus to powerlifting when he had attended and competed for Jack C. Hayes High School. His mother remembers Ardrey as always being a handson kid and always having a vision of serving in the Marines.
Ardrey entered the service and was trained as a communications specialist, a Corpsman who is trained to work with computers and their related systems. Just like achieving the title of Eagle Scout, Ardrey advanced and was promoted to the rank of sergeant.
“He was [a] hard-working Marine, always wanted to get the job done,” Gunnery Sgt. William Carrier said. “I’m from Texas; he’s from Texas, and that built our bond right from the get-go.”
Claire and Cathy both remember video chats through FaceTime, a video chat application, that they would have with the young Marine. The 14hour difference when Ardrey was stationed overseas often made it difficult to talk. Claire sensed there was something wrong.
“There are a few conversations we had where he felt like he was struggling, and things were hard and he was homesick,” Claire said.
But there was even deeper pain Colby hid from his family.
Carrier, who is currently stationed at a Marine Corps base in Hawaii, helped to illuminate the deeper issues. The suicide of a fellow Marine left Ardrey crestfallen. That Marine’s name was Lance Corporal David Gibson.
“And this was the initial source of Colby’s depression: the suicide of his friend and [fellow] troop member, Lance Corporal Gibson,” Carrier said.
Cathy had mentioned how losing friends in the military affected him deeply.
“He made some good friends, and … [then] he started losing them one by one,” Cathy said.
Ardrey was wearing a bracelet when he died.
“This is the one that Colby had on, but it still has some blood on it,” she said. “The blood was Colby’s, but the bracelet was Gibson’s.”
She keeps the bracelet on a shelf in the memorial she made for her son.
Carrier said he remembers trying to reel Colby back into the Marines – to stay in because of his exceptional service; yet Colby had a new vision: to become an outfitter on the family ranch.
He served for two years on Okinawa and eventually fell out of love with the service, completed his tenure and returned home to Buda.
But when he returned home, he came back to a family in crisis.
Someone appointed by Ardrey’s father tried to sell the family’s ranch after his father died in an ATV accident, despite the Ardrey’s wishes that it remain in the family.
In his suicide note, he specifically mentions the discord. Colby posted his goodbyes on Facebook and even called the police to notify them what he was going to do.
“There were already police there. He had called in on himself before. He completed [it], and I was the first person that got the news,” Cathy said. “So, I had two officers tell me outside of his house that he was deceased.”
Cathy said she could see sadness in her son’s eyes and feared that one day he would take his life.
Veterans often have a difficult time transitioning from military life, and Ardrey was no different, according to his friends and family.
According to Statista, service members who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan have 35% higher likelihood of taking their own lives. And the most recent data on Texan Veterans who had taken their own lives showed that there were 583 in a oneyear span, which is roughly 49 service members per month in a 12-month period.
Carrier said some returning veterans sense a lack of community and purpose post-transition.
“We’re trained to be warfighters, and we have a weeklong class called the transition seminar, and you only have a week to figure out how to be a civilian,” he said.
It’s difficult for Marines to seek help when they return, Carrier said.
Cathy appreciates the time she spent with her son.
“Maybe he was just done. [He was] a part of me. He was an old soul, And I always knew I could see that in his glow as a child. I just appreciate him making the commitment to be here with me for those 27 years,” Cathy said.
If you or a veteran you know is in crisis, please call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
Josh Colliluori is a graduate student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University.
