A traveler, a father, an artist, a trivia fan. The four Wisconsin Guard members who died by suicide in a five-month span
This story was republished on Jan. 4, 2022 to make it free for all readers
James Swetlik
Appleton, Wis.
(1996-2020)
When James Swetlik was in Texas training for his deployment to Afghanistan with the Wisconsin Army National Guard, he and his fellow soldiers had a weekend off.
Instead of joining some soldiers who went out to the bars, James decided to spend the weekend in El Paso by himself. He had a nice dinner, booked a hotel room, went to a history museum and attended a lecture, his mother recalled.
James' parents, James and Emily, said they had encouraged their son and his older sister, Carol, to have an interest in history. On family trips, they frequently stopped at museums and churches. One of James' favorite historical sites was Holy Hill, a Catholic basilica and shrine about 30 miles outside of Milwaukee.
As a child, James liked to play soldier and was knowledgeable about military weaponry. In high school, one of his teachers told his mother that James had a knack for history: He was able to see connections that other students didn't.
James was born in September 1996 and grew up in Appleton. In high school, he ran cross country and track, was in the National Honor Society and enjoyed downhill skiing.
He graduated from Appleton North High School in 2015 and attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for three semesters before obtaining his commercial driver's license. He worked as a truck driver and loved traveling across the country, his mother said.
Emily Swetlik said her son was quiet and had a small group of friends. He liked to play video games and work out at the local YMCA.
James' service in the Guard was "his most treasured accomplishment," his family wrote in his obituary. He achieved the rank of specialist and went to Afghanistan in 2018, his only overseas deployment.
Afterward, he returned to Appleton and worked at a local Ace Hardware while living with his parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
James was 23 when he died by suicide on Sept. 11, 2020.
Eric Richley
Nichols, Wis.
(1988-2020)
When Eric Richley wasn’t at work or serving in the Wisconsin Army National Guard, he was working on his fixer-upper house.
He bought the house in 2010, after he got back from serving in Iraq. He was incredibly proud of the house, where he would eventually raise his son and stepson, his family said.
Eric was born in March 1988 in Warsaw, New York, to Dale and Kathy Richley. The family moved back to Wisconsin, where Kathy was from, the year after Eric was born.
He grew up in Appleton with his younger brother, Andy. After his parents divorced, he moved to Seymour to live with his father. Eric attended Seymour High School and graduated in 2006. He enlisted in the Wisconsin Guard at age 17.
In January 2010, Eric deployed with the Guard for the first time. In Iraq, he worked on base patrol. When he returned to Wisconsin that fall, he bought his home in the rural Outagamie County village of Nichols.
Eric was a devoted father, his family said. He also had two cats, Smokey and Oreo, and he brushed them regularly.
He enjoyed hunting and fishing with his father, snowmobiling and riding dirt bikes. He also frequently shot pool at Roosters, a bar his best friend, Jerry Fuss, owned in Nichols.
While serving part-time in the Guard, Eric worked for 13 years as a machine operator at Pacon, an educational materials manufacturer, in Neenah.
Eric moved up the Guard ranks and became a sergeant. In 2018, he deployed to Afghanistan, where he worked as a radio operator, helping commanders stay in contact with each other in the field.
Prior to his deployment, Eric helped raise money to place 1,000 wreaths on the graves at Central Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Waupaca.
He returned to Wisconsin in November 2019 and left the Guard, his family said. The next month, he started working as a machine operator at Rollmeister, which builds maintenance equipment for paper mills, in Neenah.
A year after returning from Afghanistan, on Nov. 29, 2020, Eric died by suicide at his home. He was 32.
Before he died, Eric's family said he had told them he planned to build a cabin up north and add on to his Nichols home.
Evan Olson
Waunakee, Wis.
(1996-2020)
Evan Olson was about as patriotic as they come.
The Fourth of July was Evan’s favorite holiday, and he celebrated it big, his family said, dressing up in red, white and blue.
“He talked about America all the time,” said his father, Eric Olson.
Two of Evan’s heroes were his great uncles who died in World War II. As a child, Evan talked about someday joining the military.
He was a World War II expert and a voracious reader, his family said. When stationed in Afghanistan with the Guard, he would write a random fact on a board in the room where the soldiers slept. They called it “Evan’s fact of the day,” and the other soldiers looked forward to the trivia.
Evan was born in July 1996 in Madison and grew up in Waunakee. He was the oldest of Eric and Juli Olson’s four children. He played football and hockey for Waunakee Community High School, graduating in 2015.
After high school, he enrolled at his father’s alma mater, St. John’s University, an all-boys Catholic college in Collegeville, Minnesota. Evan joined the ROTC and enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard at age 19.
He left St. John’s after one semester. His father said Evan “loved learning and was an inquisitive, curious person” but was more interested in his military career than taking classes.
For the next year and a half, Evan worked as a laborer, building apartments in Wisconsin and traveling back to Minnesota for monthly drills.
He began studying criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh during the 2017 fall semester, and in February 2018, he transferred to the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
In the Guard, he was known as a workhorse who was dependable and never complained. He served as a radio operator. In December 2018, he went with the Wisconsin Guard to Afghanistan, his only overseas deployment. He returned home in November 2019. On Dec. 12, 2020, Evan took his life. He was 24.
Evan's parents described their son as shy and introverted, but when he did come out of his shell, he was great at singing karaoke. He loved country music, and his favorite artists were Johnny Cash and Chris Stapleton.
“He would never say a bad word about anybody,” his mother said. “I mean, even if they were jerks to him, (he would) just say, ‘Oh, he must be having a bad day or something.’”
Logan Collison
Oshkosh, Wis.
(1999-2021)
Friendly and extroverted, Logan Collison connected easily with others, even those much different from him.
“We had a running joke that everybody thought Logan was their best friend,” recalled his father, Mike Collison. “Everybody that talked about Logan said he was their best friend.”
The youngest of four siblings, Logan was born in August 1999 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Shortly after, the family moved to Little Chute, Wisconsin, where his father was a youth pastor and his mother, Linda Collison, homeschooled the children.
Logan attended Little Chute High School, and his senior year he was voted homecoming king. He graduated in 2017.
A versatile athlete, Logan played baseball, wrestled and ran track and cross county in high school. He was a gifted artist and loved to draw, especially for others. Logan also made his own wooden Cajon drums and helped run a side business, Out of the Drawer Percussion, with his father and brother, Ryan.
From an early age, Logan showed an interest in history, especially military affairs. He enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2017 and was studying to be a history teacher. While in college, he became friends with students who were part of the ROTC program, including Evan Olson. Those friends, along with his grandfather who served during the Korean War era, inspired him to join the Wisconsin Army National Guard in November 2017, family members said.
“He really wanted to be that citizen soldier," Ryan Collison said. "He wanted to honor our grandpa’s legacy by joining some part of the armed services. He had plans for his life. The Army was going to be part of it, but not a central part of it.”
In December 2018, Logan deployed with the Wisconsin Guard to Afghanistan, where his job included driving military vehicles. He also volunteered with the United Service Organizations (USO) while deployed. He returned to Wisconsin a year later and continued going to school.
At the age of 21, Logan died by suicide on Jan. 19, 2021.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin National Guard soldiers' lives ended in suicide
