The Navy veteran and hip-hop artist whose music helped to break the post-traumatic stress disorder label has died.
George Michael “Doc” Todd died in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month. The cause of the 38-year-old’s death was “sudden cardiac death,” NPR reports.
“It’s an unfortunate label,” Todd said of PTSD during an interview with Connecting Vets in 2019. “I thought it would hinder me to rise to my potential. I did not want the label.”
Todd was born in Memphis, Tennesse on Feb. 16, 1985, to George Sr. (Mike) and Rebecca Googe Todd. He joined the Navy in his mid-20s.
By 2009, he was serving in Afghanistan as a Navy corpsman with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines during the American push into the Helmand River valley. The first Marine to be killed in that battle was Todd's roommate, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Charles Seth Sharp, NPR reported. More of Todd’s friends died or were wounded and he came home with PTSD.
Todd, who began writing lyrics for his band during high school, turned to music to help him cope with his PTSD. He released his album, Combat Music, in 2017. It features the track “Not Alone,” which Todd described as being about empowerment and taking charge of the transition from the combat zone to civilian life.
“People feel like we’re dangerous, they feel like we’re broken,” he said in 2019 about the stigma of a PTSD label. “It makes people think people are going to snap.”
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Todd was known to check in with fellow vets regularly, wrote NPR.
"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."
Todd is survived by his wife and two daughters, his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and numerous friends.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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