About Bob Means

Bob Means joined the Marines in July 1965, two months after turning 17. He completed his basic training and was transferred to 5th Guns at Marine Corps Base, 29 Palms, California. Six months later, his unit was deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. While in Vietnam, he was subjected to intense combat during Operation Swift in the Que Son Valley, Ambush at Tam KY, and the 1968 Tet Offensive.

During the Ambush at Tam Ky, one Gun was destroyed, Means was wounded, and he witnessed the slaughter of 23 non-combatants caught in the crossfire between the Marines and enemy forces.

Returning to the States, Means was discharged from the Marines and struggled to return to civilian life. Suffering from what is now called PTSD led to a total nervous breakdown lasting three years. Suicide was a viable option. With the help of a fellow veteran, Means began to recover and realized he needed to get involved in something bigger than himself.

Invited by a friend to help build an orphanage in Guatemala, led to a thirty-year career in worldwide disaster relief as a shelter consultant with a faith-based relief agency.

Means returned to Vietnam in 1988 with fellow veterans to reconstruct Polio Orphanage #5 in Saigon. The Pediatric Research Center, based in Ho Chi Minh City, invited him and his new wife to build maternity clinics in rural areas. While on this project, he and his wife lived in Vietnam for two years (1992-1993).

Returning to the States, his wife passed away from cancer. After the memorial service for his wife, a friend who owned a publishing company asked Means to write a memoir, which took three years to complete.

The book, “My Soul to Keep: A Marine's Journal after Combat,” is being made into a full-length documentary, entitled “Bob Doing Bob Things”, by Belltower Pictures based in Richmond, Virginia. Twenty-two (22) veterans commit suicide a day. The goal is that this film will be a beacon of hope for those veterans who have PTSD contemplating suicide.