By Petty Officer 1st Class Benjamin Dobbs

A man dressed in a black suit and tie, sits at a table reviewing documents inside an office space at a funeral home. His eyes attentively scan the pages in front of him while he holds an ink pen in his hand. After careful review, he prepares to sign papers that will change his life, and the lives of his loved ones, forever.

By Stephanie Fox, Navy Office of Community Outreach

ROTA, Spain - A Whitaker, Pennsylvania, native is serving aboard USS Ross, a U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.

Steelworker 2nd Class Connor Lindsay, from Washington, Pa., and Steelworker Construction man William Linley, from Porterville, Calif., assigned to U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3’s Detail Guam, assemble the rebar cage for a column extension that will support the roof of a concrete pavilion in support of the U.S. Coast Guard on board Naval Base Guam.

With conversations around healthcare in the national spotlight, many people are surprised to learn nearly 40% of the U.S. population has a chronic illness. Many patients, like the 3.1 million Americans with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), feel ostracized by uncomfortable and even taboo symptoms. But one local woman is brave enough to share her story and inspire over 2 million people.