Michael Paul Titus was born on October 31, 1985 in Kissimmee, Florida. He was the youngest of six siblings and one of the two boys who served in the US Army. Michael was number 6 of 6, so he was the baby of the family, indulged by everyone, even as he grew into what he considered to be “A Grown Ass Man”, he was cared for by his entire family. Michael lived most of his life in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, and spent his days hanging on the local beaches with family and friends. One afternoon, he came home to let his parents know that he wanted to join the military and serve our country, following in the footsteps of his older brothers. He joined the ARMY in 2007, amidst wartime for the US.
Michael was a loving, caring, considerate, and funny guy with a laugh that could fill a concert hall. His sense of humor got him in more trouble than you can imagine. He had an arid sense of humor that wasn’t always funny to some people he was around. One of the stories we remember well was when he was in basic training digging foxholes, and he mentioned it to his drill sergeant. “Srgt., I need a bigger shovel to dig this hole with.” On hearing this, the Drill Sergeant presented Michael with a tiny trowel. He asked Michael how that size would work, and Michael replied, “Srgt. I wished in one hand and ended up with shit in the other hand.” Michael’s humor did not impress his Drill Sergeant and he paid a dear price for his remark.
Sgt Michael Paul Titus served in the Army as a 13F2P Fire Support Specialist with the 173rd Airborne Brigade from 2007 to 2014, stationed in Vicenza, Italy. He served four tours in Afghanistan and was med-boarded out with an Honorable Discharge. Michael did not want to leave the service, but he had been wounded in gunfire and could no longer comfortably wear a Kevlar vest and fire a weapon. He had hearing loss and bad knees as a Paratrooper. Sadly, he also struggled with severe depression and PTSD after his four tours in Afghanistan.



Michael returned to the United States in February 2014 with his wife (whom he had married while stationed abroad) and two dogs (Dexter and Mia). Although trying, they had difficulty settling into civilian life States-side together as a family/unit, post-military service. Things didn’t go so well for Michael in the first few months of getting out of the Military; he struggled psychologically with the effects of war and battlefield experiences. His most troubling and apparent issues included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and depression. He was Baker Acted more than once in Military services and was on a merry-go-round of drugs being prescribed by the VA. He was fighting a new battle, a war on his invisible wounds.
Michael was so proud to serve his country, but when he came home, he had difficulty adjusting to civilian life. He often shared with his family how he dreamed of starting something that could help veterans and their families adapt to civilian life and post-military service to give them the opportunity to thrive, not just survive. Short of making that dream come true and unable to fight any longer, Michael took his own life late in the evening of 2/7/2016.
Our family’s grief was heavy after Michael killed himself. It is debilitating knowing our son, the brother to his siblings, the baby of the family, was now among the 22 veterans every day who commit suicide. Those numbers are staggering; trust me, we never believed our son would ever be one of those statistics.
A few years passed, and as the family healed their hearts, my husband and I desired to make Michael’s dream a reality. Helping veterans and their families adapt to civilian life post-military service, allowing them to thrive, not just survive. In December of 2018, we formed a Non-profit, Michael’s Foundation. The mission of Michael’s Foundation is to inspire, engage, and empower veterans and their families and help them adapt to civilian life post-military service.

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