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.
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.
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