GREAT FALLS — Thompson Falls in western Montana is the site of Patrol Base Abbate, named after Matt Abbate, who died in combat. The retreat helps veterans who may be struggling and now has chapters cross the country.
In the video below, Tim McGonigal learns about the organization from its founder, USMC Lieutenant Colonel Tom Schueman.
Schueman joined the Marine Corps after the events of September 11, 2001. His service has taken him across the world, including the deadliest combat zones.
“I had three Marines commit suicide in April of 2020, and I fought in the bloodiest battle in the war in Afghanistan,” said Schueman.
“After those three suicides, I had lost more Marines on the home front than I'd lost on the battlefield.”
Schueman says while teaching at the Naval Academy he dove into research on suicide among veterans.
“I just thought, you did everything you could do to keep your Marines alive in combat. What are you doing to keep them alive at home? And I felt like not enough,” said Scheuman.
He says he found non-combat veterans are 68% more likely to die by suicide than combat veterans. And while he praises the nearly 45,000 veteran service organizations, he says about 99% of them only service about two percent of the veteran population.
“They had a barrier to entry. They had a box to check,” said Schueman. “You're not disabled enough. You're not disordered enough. You're not Navy Seal enough. You're not wounded enough. You're not in crisis.”
Schueman wanted to give Veterans a place where the only requirement was, they had served.
“If you're a Navy sailor on a ship, if you're an Air Force maintainer, turning a wrench on a C-17, if you're a soldier driving a truck, we think all that service matters,” said Schueman. “And this is your base, and you belong here.”
The family of a fellow Marine he served with homesteaded in Thompson Falls in the 1800’s offered space on their property to get the patrol base started. They upgraded the surroundings when a former boarding school property became available.
He said the participants felt the beauty and magic of Patrol Base Abbatte on the drive from Missoula to the base.
“And every river, every time you turn, you think, this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen,” said Schueman. “And then there's the next turn and they say, ou know, this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.”
Unlike many other veteran service organizations, PB Abbate built programs and activities based upon what veterans want to do.
“Some said jujitsu and some, some said weightlifting and some said hunting and some said golfing and scuba diving and music and art and yoga, and books,” said Schueman.
PB Abbate, which is free to attend, is named in honor of Sergeant Matt Abbate, killed in action on December 2nd, 2010. Schueman says Abbate was a man apart.
“He was in a class of his own,” said Schueman. “He was truly the Achilles of our battlefield, separate and distinct in his capabilities and honor.”
PB Abbate has 40 Chapters around the country and is dependent on volunteers. Their fundraising efforts include a recently released Montana license plate, with a picture of veterans outside a cabin and around a campfire that fittingly reads, return to base.
“When you are out on patrol in a foreign land and you've been shot at a bunch and walked through IED fields, and you make a call and say, ‘hey, we're RTB, return to base’, it's a good feeling that be able to head back to that base and know that for a second, you can eat some chow and take your gear off,” said Schueman, “So offer and extend that invitation, to all veterans returning to base.”
