U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Chris Louie was only 21 when he dug into his fighting hole for another nightmarish day of combat against the Taliban in one of the deadliest places in the world at that time. It was Afghanistan in 2010.
“We had to fight every day for our survival,” Louie said from his home in LaPalma last week, ahead of Veterans Day on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
“Buddies were killed by bombs, and one had a bomb blow up in his face, blowing out his jaw and teeth,” Louie said. “He was choking on his own blood. I had to clear his airway. It saved his life.”
As terrifying as the combat was, Louie said, he and his fellow Marines battled with perhaps some divine intervention during the 73 days they were in their fighting holes.
“We thought we were invincible,” he said, “with a guardian angel in front of us so we could come home safely.”
After four years in the Marines, Louie did return home. But 13 years later, at 36 years of age, he still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and continues receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Long Beach.
PTSD is a mental health condition that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event or a series of traumatic events.
Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. PTSD is slightly more common among veterans than civilians, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. At some point in their lives, in fact, 7% of veterans will have PTSD — compared to 6% for civilians.
As part of his mental health therapy, Louie takes walks at the sprawling Don Knabe Community Regional Park in Cerritos, which is close to his La Palma home. The park is named after Don Knabe, who served five terms as the Los Angeles County Supervisor for the fourth district, from 1996 to 2016.
“I knew of Mr. Knabe and admired him for all that he did for the community,” Louie told me, “but I had never met him personally.”
That was fixed with a phone call by the Press-Telegram to Knabe, who readily agreed to meet with Louie. Despite never having met Louie, Knabe had written about him in a fundraising letter for Fisher House Southern California, which provides lodging and other assistance to military and veteran families while their loved ones receive care at nearby VA hospitals.
When Knabe met Louie at the park on Oct. 31, the first thing he did was extend his hand for a handshake and thank Louie for his service to the country.
“You are a hero,” Knabe told him. “Thank you for all you’ve done to make all of us safe.”
Louie and Knabe chatted about how they, coincidentally, were neighbors of sorts, just across Coyote Creek from each other, Louie in La Palma and Knabe in Cerritos.
Louie told Knabe that he loved dogs and had started a dog obedience business, At Ease Dog Training, out of his home. Louie became familiar with bomb-sniffing dogs, black Labradors, in Afghanistan. Louie has two personal dogs at his home and a part German shepherd, Olivia, who he uses for his dog obedience classes.
Louie said he would also like to start a dog obedience training class for the community somewhere in the park and asked Knabe if he could help him with that.
“Absolutely,” Knabe said.
Knabe is also a veteran, having served in the Navy from 1967 to 1970 as a petty officer helping train pilots in various simulation training exercises.
“I always wanted to be a pilot myself,” Knabe said, “but my eyes weren’t good enough.”
In his fundraising letter, Knabe wrote that Louie understands that the impact of military service reaches beyond the battlefield.
“When Chris visited the Fisher House, he experienced what thousands of families before him have also felt,” Knabe wrote, “a true home away from home, always at no cost, for as long as needed.”
Almost 10 years ago, Knabe helped his late friend, former Rep. Steve Kuykendall, bring the Long Beach Fisher House into existence.
Fisher House Southern California supports not only the home in Long Beach but also the Fisher House at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton and two Fisher Houses at Naval Medical Center San Diego. In 2024, Fisher House served 1,054 military and veteran families at their four Southern California locations.
Louie was born in Anaheim in 1989, but he grew up in Orange with his family until a fire forced them to move to Buena Park. He said his father was “an entrepreneur, a jack-of-all trades,” and his mother was in the mortgage industry. He graduated from Kennedy High School in La Palma.
He grew up hearing many war stories from and about relatives, Louie said.
“My mother’s father was an engineer on D-Day at Normandy during World War II,” he told me. “And my great-grandfather was on personal security for Gen. Douglas MacArthur during the war. I knew I wanted to be in the military when I was in the third grade.”
Louie said he decided to join the Marines as a rifleman “to be the best of the best.” He was 18 when he joined in 2008.
After boot camp and infantry school, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, and went to Sangin in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan for his harrowing combat duty in vicious battles with the Taliban.
Louis said he was tremendously relieved when he finally left Afghanistan.
“When I kissed American soil on my return,” he said, “it felt so good to be back home.”
He attended vocational classes at Fullerton College and worked on construction jobs before deciding to make a business out of teaching dog obedience classes.
He is also continuing what he called “my mental health journey.” He praised the opening in August of new inpatient and outpatient mental health facilities at the VA Hospital in Long Beach.
In an emotional speech at the dedication of those facilities, Louie said the VA played a huge role in helping him readjust to civilian life with his wife, Delaney, and children.
“This Veterans Day we reflect not only on the sacrifices of our nation’s heroes,” Louie said, “but also on how we can stand beside them when the battles continue at home.”
Semper Fi, Louie.
For information on donations to Fisher House Southern California, go online to fisherhousesocal.org