Stigma Free Vet Zone

Stigma Free Vet Zone


He Wanted to See What I Saw

May 12, 2023


Brian Jopek, reporter and news director at a newspaper in Minocqua, Wisconsin, is a veteran of the war in Iraq. His son, Ryan David Jopek, followed Brian into the Wisconsin National Guard and ultimately also was deployed to Iraq. Ryan David was killed in action in the same area where his father had served, making Brian one of the few Gold Star parents whose child was KIA in the same theater where a parent had served.