Loved ones of late Port Jervis vet who suffered PTSD carry on his support mission

Lana Bellamy, Times Herald-Record
·5 min read

Editor's note: This article discusses sensitive mental health matters, including suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Veterans can also seek help by calling 800-273-8255.

PORT JERVIS – Keith Yennie II struggled to adjust back to everyday life when he returned home to Port Jervis in 2017.

Yennie was in his early 20s at the time.

Over the course of five years in the Marine Corps, he had developed tinnitus – ringing in his ears – and injured his knee and back.

A Hometown Heroes banner featuring veteran Keith Yennie of Port Jervis on Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis on April 29, 2022. Yennie launched the nonprofit Operation: Got Your Six, which helps veterans dealing with housing and mental health issues, as well as, anyone who is a victim of domestic violence. Yennie lost his own battle with PTSD recently.
A Hometown Heroes banner featuring veteran Keith Yennie of Port Jervis on Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis on April 29, 2022. Yennie launched the nonprofit Operation: Got Your Six, which helps veterans dealing with housing and mental health issues, as well as, anyone who is a victim of domestic violence. Yennie lost his own battle with PTSD recently.

But Yennie's worst injury happened early on in his service. In 2014, two years after joining the Marines, Yennie developed PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Back home, he struggled to express himself to friends and family. He'd reach out, signaling that he needed help, but he just couldn't find the words to explain what he was going through.

While Yennie battled internally, he looked for ways to help other veterans grappling with similar issues.

In July 2021, he started the nonprofit Operation: Got Your Six to help veterans find housing and to aid victims of domestic violence. But a large part of the organization is dedicated to providing one-on-one, in-person counseling to veterans with PTSD.

Stacie Caproni, left, Keith's mother, Trevor Cron, center, Keith's friend, and Crystal Utter, Keith's sister, talk about Keith's life in Port Jervis.
Stacie Caproni, left, Keith's mother, Trevor Cron, center, Keith's friend, and Crystal Utter, Keith's sister, talk about Keith's life in Port Jervis.

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The organization's name is based on a military phrase that originated in World War I. Fighter pilots referred to their rear position as being at "six o'clock." "Got your six" means "Got your back."

Family and friends stand below the Hometown Heroes banner featuring veteran Keith Yennie of Port Jervis on Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis on April 29, 2022.
Family and friends stand below the Hometown Heroes banner featuring veteran Keith Yennie of Port Jervis on Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis on April 29, 2022.

Yennie was on his way to earning a bachelor's degree in sociology from SUNY New Paltz. He was expected to graduate this year on his birthday, May 21. Through his studies, he would have obtained a license to become a professional counselor.

"He had a mission," said Donna Yennie, Keith's grandmother. "He had a dream."

Donna Yennie, Keith's grandmother, talks about Keith. "He had a mission," she said.
Donna Yennie, Keith's grandmother, talks about Keith. "He had a mission," she said.

On April 7, 2022, Yennie died by suicide, his friends and family said. Yennie was 27.

U.S. veterans are at a 50% higher risk of dying by suicide than the average person, according to information at stopsoldierssuicide.org.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for post-9/11 veterans, accounting for 22.3% of all deaths among that group, according to stopsoldierssuicide.org. Since 2006, there has been a 86% increase in the suicide rate of 18- to 34-year-old male veterans.

Joining the Marines

After Yennie's death, the nonprofit was handed over to one of his best friends, Trevor Cron.

The two met in 2005, when they were in the sixth grade at Anna S. Kuhl Elementary School in Port Jervis.

Trevor Cron, Keith's friend, talks about Keith's life in Port Jervis on April 29, 2022. Yennie launched the nonprofit Operation: Got Your Six, which helps veterans dealing with housing and mental health issues, as well as anyone who is a victim of domestic violence. Yennie, a Marine veteran, lost his own battle with PTSD recently.
Trevor Cron, Keith's friend, talks about Keith's life in Port Jervis on April 29, 2022. Yennie launched the nonprofit Operation: Got Your Six, which helps veterans dealing with housing and mental health issues, as well as anyone who is a victim of domestic violence. Yennie, a Marine veteran, lost his own battle with PTSD recently.

Cron, Yennie and Kyle Eth, another childhood best friend, would hang out at Yennie's grandmother's house after school. They'd raid her fridge, watch movies and get into teenage shenanigans, such as riding bikes off her roof and into her swimming pool.

By the time they got to high school, Eth said, their friendship had grown into a good-natured "competitive" relationship.

"We'd push each other to be better," he said.

Near graduation, Yennie committed the ultimate one-up on Eth. Yennie told him he was going to become a Marine.

"I was like, 'I'm not doing that,'" Eth remembered with a laugh.

But Yennie managed to pull in Cron, who had been considering joining the Army.

Yennie joined the Marines in September 2012; Cron joined in June 2013.

Their paths crossed once when they were stationed in Okinawa, Japan, but the two rarely saw each other during their service years.

Tough transition

Coming back to civilian life wasn't easy.

Cron said the Marines offered them a five-day "transition" course before they left the service to help them adjust back to everyday life. But it wasn't very helpful, he said.

The course covered how to create a résumé, what to do during a job interview and basic information about the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Cron said.

"It's just basic, simple stuff, but they don't actually help us get our mindset out of Marine Corps and into a regular person," Cron said.

A month-long course would be more beneficial, he said.

Sometimes veterans struggle to find jobs suited for their specialized skills, Cron said. Without a job, it is hard to find a place to rent, especially considering the current housing market and steadily increasing rents.

On top of those concerns, veterans may also be dealing with depression and trauma related to their service, he said.

"After you get out, you feel like you have no purpose at all," Cron said.

While the two young veterans tackled their own transitions and faced some tough realities on the home front – finding a job, a purpose, affording housing – they hoped their nonprofit could help ease these transitions for other veterans.

That hasn't been easy either, as they struggled with funding since the organization was created last summer. So far, they've held a couple fundraisers and provided some counseling, Cron said.

Crystal Utter from Milford, Pa., Keith's sister, talks about Keith's life. "He just wanted to always save everybody," she said.
Crystal Utter from Milford, Pa., Keith's sister, talks about Keith's life. "He just wanted to always save everybody," she said.

Before Yennie died, he had plans to buy a school bus to transform into a mobile counseling center. He envisioned remodeling the inside as a lounge and he wanted to drive it directly to people in need.

“He just wanted to always save everybody," said his sister Crystal Utter. "It was always about everybody else. Anything he could do to help someone.”

Cron wants to carry out Yennie's vision for the mobile counseling center, as well as Yennie's vision for building "tiny homes" to house homeless vets and create safe homes for domestic-violence victims.

Cron himself plans to one day become a licensed professional counselor. Right now, nobody at Operation: Got Your Six is a certified counselor, he said, but staff at the organization can connect people in need to professionals, if requested.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Veterans can also seek help by calling 800-273-8255. More resources are available at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Lana Bellamy covers Newburgh for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach her at lbellamy@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Loved ones of late Port Jervis veteran carry on nonprofit's mission