Sometimes he glided by the nickname, Mik. To the hundreds of individuals, particularly veterans, who listened to his hip-hop, he was generally known as Doc Todd. George Michael Todd was a Navy corpsman who served in Afghanistan with the two/8 Marines — generally known as “America’s Battalion.”

He died in Atlanta earlier this month on the age of 38. The trigger was sudden cardiac demise, in response to his spouse, Abigail.

George Michael Todd in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in June 2009.

Abigail Todd

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Abigail Todd

George Michael Todd in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in June 2009.

Abigail Todd

In 2017, Todd instructed NPR his album Combat Medicine was meant to assist fellow veterans heal. One of his hottest songs, “Not Alone” is about empowerment, “about taking charge of your life, taking charge of your transition” from the fight zone to civilian life, he mentioned.

This week, tons of of family and friends members attended his funeral in Sandy Springs, GA.

“First time I met Mik,” Kris McDaniel, Lead Pastor of Trinity Anglican Church instructed funeral attendees, “he came up to me after church … and just swallowed me up in a hug, and the first thing he says is ‘I’m a rapper!’ ” McDaniel chuckles on the reminiscence, “And I was like, sure you are a rapper.'”

Later, McDaniel came upon it was true and have become a fan.

Doc Todd was born in Memphis on Feb. 16, 1985, to George Sr. (Mike) and Rebecca Googe Todd. He joined the Navy in his mid-20s.

In 2009, he was in Afghanistan throughout an American push within the Helmand River valley, which was managed by the Taliban. As a corpsman (primarily a medic), he handled blast and burn accidents. The warmth was additionally brutal, says U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Eric Meador who acquired to know Todd nicely.

“The guys just couldn’t stay cooled off,” remembers Meador. He says Todd and his crew began pulling guys off the frontline and telling them to leap within the canal. ” ‘Get wet, get back out. Now you get back up on the line, continue fighting and let’s rotate. Get the next guys in there.’ ”

Meador says Todd “saved a lot of guys from being heat casualties.”

The first Marine to be killed in that battle was Todd’s roommate, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Charles Seth Sharp. More associates died or have been wounded. Todd got here residence with PTSD.

But Meador remembers Todd as somebody who introduced levity to powerful conditions. “People were drawn to him… He had a little clique of guys that did jingles and raps and little sing songs together.”

He was recognized to examine in with fellow vets recurrently.

Doc Todd and his spouse Abigail Todd within the final selfie they took collectively, in Dec. 2022

Abigail Todd

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Abigail Todd

Doc Todd and his spouse Abigail Todd within the final selfie they took collectively, in Dec. 2022

Abigail Todd

“I don’t even know what to say,” writes Chase Reynolds on Todd’s Instagram, “His music helped me when I came home. Even chatted a bit. RIP brother.. thank you for everything you’ve done for our community.. we got it from here.”

Meador says, over time, he would get texts out of the blue from Todd. “‘Hey sir… Just checking on you. Are you good?’ That was the constant messaging. And I’m just one. There’s countless others.”

Before he deployed to Afghanistan Todd fell head over heels in love together with his future spouse. At his funeral, Abby Todd learn a letter he’d written to her from Afghanistan:

“I dream about you almost every night. You soothed me so much and turned my nervous energy into something positive. You make me a better person, and I thank you deeply for that. … It’s crazy. No matter how much I wash my feet, they still stink. I just wanted to tell you that. I don’t know why.”

The Todd household throughout a house renovation in May 2020.

Abigail Todd

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Abigail Todd

The Todd household throughout a house renovation in May 2020.

Abigail Todd

The room erupted in laughter.

There was that levity. But Todd wasn’t afraid to, as pastor Kris McDaniel put it, pull “back the curtain on pain and loss.”

“How cathartic is it when someone, a big man, a military man, looks out at the world and says, ‘We all go through stuff and we can all make it through stuff. We can all get somewhere if we realize we’re not alone.’ “

McDaniel additionally mentioned, “The best way we honor the passing of a gentle giant, a big hearted man, is to try to be as real as he was.”

George “Doc” “Mik” Todd is survived by his spouse and two daughters, his dad and mom, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and an entire lot of associates.