The magic of the holiday season works its way into our memory with visions of friends, family and the spirit of giving. Many people have a story of how giving has impacted their lives, but those stories are sometimes forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the season.
    Arnold resident, David McArthur, III’s (Moose), life has been defined by the two-way street of giving. Moose, a marine, was wounded in Afghanistan on May 15, 2010. In the face of adversity, the 22 year old hasn’t lost track of his goals.
    “He tells me that his goal is to bend over and pick up his one-year-old daughter and to be able to ride a bike again,” David McArthur, Jr., Moose’s father, said.
    McArthur, Jr., is the owner of McArthur’s Bakery in St. Louis. His son is currently being treated at Naval Medical Center San Diego. The young marine was on patrol when the vehicle he was driving struck an improvised explosive device. It caused loss of vision, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain disorder. Moose suffers from a headache every second of the day and has balance problems. The Marines awarded him a Purple Heart (a military decoration awarded to those wounded or killed in action) on November 6, 2011.       
    Marines who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder initially weren’t eligible for the Purple Heart, according to Moose’s father. But McArthur, Jr., went to bat for his son and other marines with the same condition by writing to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and making appearances in various media outlets.
    “I’m honored to have an advocate,” Moose said of his dad. “Some [people] like me don’t have an advocate.”
    The marine has learned a thing or two from his father’s giving spirit. “I want to be an advocate for people like me,” he said. “I want to be an advocate for those wounded veterans and marines. People need to understand post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain disorder.”
    When it comes to giving back to military veterans, Moose hasn’t wasted any time. While undergoing treatment himself, he spends three days a week as a volunteer at a veterans administration hospital in San Diego. Moose said working in this environment gives him “a very good feeling…It’s all about helping others out.”
    After an honorable discharge, he will return home around Christmas. While his dad said he and the rest of the family will be glad to have him home, Moose still feels a commitment to his fellow marines. He describes an “empty feeling” in his heart for his currently deployed unit, and said he considered his marine friends “like family.”
    Moose will celebrate his second year of marriage with his wife, Lindsay, on December 26. They have a one-year-old daughter, Heidi. Modern technology, including email and cell phones—not available to previous generations of military men and women—has helped him keep in contact with his family. “We typically received three to five texts a day,” McArthur Jr. said. 
    The marine said the technology has its ups and downs. “You can communicate with your family,” he said. “I called my family on a satellite phone and I watched them on Skype. But it also increased my feelings of homesickness.”
    Lindsay went through her pregnancy while Moose was deployed in Afghanistan. He was home for his daughter’s birth, but his wounds challenged his family life: his memory didn’t allow him to recall the birth of his daughter. But the family found a way to cope, thanks to the giving spirit of their families and their own tenacity.
    “She spent a lot of time with my family and her own family,” Moose said. “Me, I just tried to stay busy and write home whenever I could.”
    Moose received the St. Louis community’s support during his deployment. Various churches and civic groups supplied him with necessities such as razors, toothpaste and soap. This support helped him save money for things such as his uniforms.
    Now prepared to resume his life at home, Moose is planning to continue his education in pursuit of his goals. He said he’ll most likely seek a degree in criminal justice or management when he returns.
    When it comes to his memory problems, Moose is dedicated to fighting the challenge and not letting it interfere with his life. “I write everything down,” he said. “And I use an HP device and the internet, and I always keep a calendar on hand. It’s just something that I have to work on. I won’t let this ruin my life.”