That's why Matt Brown and the Blue Steel Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club will be holding a barbecue plate sale fundraiser Friday for his brother, Patrick, to help defray traveling expenses Patrick's family has encountered in visits to the Veterans Administration for diagnosis of a traumatic brain injury which has led to complications including seizures and blackouts.

Patrick, a Marine Corps veteran and 2007 graduate of Roanoke Rapids High School, has received two Purple Hearts from improvised explosive device detonations while in Afghanistan, Matt said in a recent interview.

(The plate sale will be held from 11 a.m. until sell-out at Dunham's Sports at 230 Premier Boulevard. Matt and Michael Kidd will be cooking and the $8 plates consist of barbecue, boiled potatoes, a dinner roll and cole slaw made by JoAnna and Chris Babb. For tickets or more information call Matt at 252-676-0771, Blue Steel at 252-326-0565 or go to Jacob and Edmund Dixon Contractors, Preston Pair at Premier Homes, Askew Funeral and Cremation Service or Tammy's Place in Littleton. Delivery is available for 10 or more plates)

Patrick completed his basic law enforcement training in July, said Matt, who himself is a canine handler with the Halifax County Sheriff's Office.

Until the seizures are under control, however, Patrick can't work, and the onset of one means six months in which he can't work, drive or be alone. “The doctors told him he cannot be alone whatsoever. He can't watch his daughter by himself, he has to be constantly monitored. He's become slightly depressed and he's lost weight. He's worried he's not able to provide for his family as a father and husband should.”

While Patrick is covered at 40 percent disability, there are expenses not covered, which is the focus of the plate sale Friday. “His wife is the only one working so there are unforeseen expenses like gas,” Matt said. “She's got to have time off work to take my brother to the hospital. They live in Jacksonville and my brother has to travel to Greenville where doctors are trying to help.”

Matt believes it's a worthy cause the community can help out with. “We've got a veteran out there who is from Roanoke Rapids who needs the help of the community. He fought for us. It's time to fight for him.”

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A veteran himself, Matt said, “My little brother, he's my hero. We've pretty much always been real close growing up. I am extremely proud of what he's done. I'll go to the end of the world to help him out, not only as a veteran but as my brother.”

Matt, who through the National Guard was deployed to Mosul in 2005 and Baghdad in 2009, was on deployment when his brother enlisted in the Marines. “When he enlisted I told him being in the military is almost a family tradition. Our dad was in the Army; our grandfather was Special Forces in Vietnam and my mother was Army Reserves. We're a proud family, proud of our country. We love our country so we fight for our country.”

Patrick is appreciative of what his brother and Blue Steel are doing for him. “It took a great deal of stress off me and my family,” he said today.

Patrick says the military helped bring him and his brother closer. “When we were younger, we were typical brothers, we always fought. Since I joined the Marine Corps, we became closer and helped each other out. He was very supportive of my military service and for what we continue to do.”

The traumatic brain injuries started in Afghanistan in 2010, Patrick said. “I have hit a total of five IEDs in a three-month span that's led to traumatic brain injuries and now seizures.”

Still, while he is anxious to find the root cause of the seizures, at the time of the explosions, his mind was on his military brothers. “When you hit those devices, everything is black. I lost consciousness twice. My concern was for my other Marines around me — were they OK? At that point and time I put myself on the back burner. That's the brotherhood we had in the military, exactly why we trained together for almost a year before we deployed. We became a real tight-knit brotherhood, all mentality the same. We don't think about ourselves, we think about the other military with us. The military in general is my brotherhood.”

Patrick says the money raised from the plate sale will be a big help. “We're making trips once or twice a week and I'm unable to work because of the seizures and medications I'm on. My brother and everyone in community has pitched in until everything is under control so my family can get back on their feet and I can get a job.”

Doctors are still trying to figure out what's triggering the seizures. “It's unknown right now but each time I have one it's six months before I can drive. When I exited the Marine Corps I was a stay-at-home father of a three-year-old. Now my wife drops me and my daughter at a friend's house because I can't be at home by myself.”

While it takes a toll on the family, Patrick says, “There's not a day that goes by that I'm not proud of everything. Know that with the seizures, I'm holding my head up high. God has got a plan for me and I can get out of this. I let God handle it.”

He says he is particularly thankful for his brother and the rest of the community for putting the plate sale on for him. “It's family. We're brothers and I hope it opens the public's eyes to see that even though we volunteer and join we're still humans after the military, still battling every day battles from being in the military.”