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gaming saved my life


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One of the first streaming teams to stand alongside Stack-Up.org was none other than the legendary League of Legends 2GArmy which is named in honor of their entertaining commander-in-chief, Mr. Tim “Trick2G” Foley. The 2GArmy consists of over 30 full time streamers, of which resides prior service Marine Lance Corporal Owen “MachineGunnerUSMC” Monahan. While Owen and Stack-Up founder Stephen Machuga originally hit it off over their shared love of metal music, they found they also shared a great number of stories about their time in Iraq.


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From Owen: “Hopefully, I will be able to shed light on a more personal level to you all about what a charity like Stack-Up.Org truly means. Although some people may look at something like Stack-Up as small, like ”˜oh, well it’s just video games being sent to someone like a vet’, I play video games every day, all day, even for a living, but I can assure you that mindset is wrong and it makes a huge difference.

As most of you know, I was a machine gunner or 0331 in the Marine Corps, did 3 deployments, and video games saved my life. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of an organization such as Stack-Up.org while I was in. I was in Iraq 10 years ago, and we really didn’t have much. I suffered a TBI when I was in the Marine Corps which stands for Traumatic Brain Injury which a lot of people don’t know I also had amnesia for a year. Now, imagine waking up not knowing what happened to you not knowing you had a girlfriend/friends or even remembering where the hell you were for the last year and being told you had an 80 percent chance to have become basically a vegetable for the rest of your life, and that’s what happened to me. When I got out of the Marine Corps, although I didn’t notice at the time, I had changed a lot and couldn’t get a job anywhere. I went to the NYPD, which was my dream job for a long time, but got turned down because they said I failed the psychological evaluation. Video games and Team2g has saved my life for the reason of giving me an opportunity to play games every day for a living, and that is what Stack-Up is offering to other veterans.


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The minute I touched video games when I got out of the Marine Corps and started streaming, it took my mind off all of the problems. A lot of the people you will be helping out by supporting Stack-Up.Org are and will experience everything I have and much, much worse. The one thing I learned is what goes around comes around, so do some good and good things will come back to you!”

As always, we would like to extend our appreciation for the service as well as support of Owen “MachineGunnerUSMC” Monahan. If you are interested in helping soldiers through Stack-Up, you can find more information on our Donate page. Again, much thanks to Owen for sharing his story and being a supporter of Stack-Up.org

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Osborn Tyler
Jul 14

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