WWII vet shoots himself outside Greenville VA clinic

WWII vet shoots himself outside Greenville VA clinic, deputies say

By Paul Alongi • STAFF WRITER • April 24, 2008

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An 89-year-old World War II veteran died of a gunshot wound to the head after employees of a Greenville veteran’s clinic found him lying in the parking lot, said Greenville County sheriff’s Lt. Shea Smith.


Investigators believe Grover Chapman shot himself about 12:30 p.m. near the back door of the U.S. Veterans’ Outpatient Clinic on Augusta Road, Smith said.

Smith said he didn’t know whether Chapman had any interaction with staff before the shooting. He wouldn’t say whether Chapman left a suicide note.

Chapman was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital, where he died, Smith said.

He was the only injury reported, he said. Smith said he didn’t know Chapman’s address or what branch of the service he was in.

Linda Lou said she was inside the building when doctors and nurses started running and somebody said "code blue." Lou said she never heard a shot.

"I thought somebody had a heart attack," she said.

Chapman, a patient at the clinic, showed up without an appointment today, Smith said. He was found in possession of a firearm, Smith said.

"At this point, we have not made a determination as to why he came there to do it," Smith said.

Investigators had an area around the ambulance entrance blocked off with crime tape, while patients continued to go in and out of the front doors.

Danny Bailey, a Vietnam veteran from Greenville, said no one was saying much about what happened when he arrived for his appointment shortly before 1 p.m. It wasn’t until he asked that he found out, he said.

"Employees were really upset," Bailey said.

Priscilla Creamer, a spokeswoman for the clinic, said she didn’t believe the incident would interrupt the appointment schedule. She declined to say anything about what happened.

"It was a very unfortunate incident and we feel very badly for the family involved," Creamer said.

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I don't know if we will ever learn why he chose the VA clinic to do this, at 89 I am sure he had other health issues, my step father was a WW2 Army Air Corp veteran he flew with the 8th AF out of England bombing Germany in 1942 and 1943 He was in the same squadron as the Memphis Belle, he knew those men, he also knew many men that died, and many who ended up in German POW camps. He tried to watch the movie version when it came on HBO years ago, when the flak started his face truend white and he tore the arms off his big easy chair and stood up and walked out of the room and never said a word again, he loved the Tuskeegee Airman he credited them with his living thru WW2, and that is saying a lot for a 90 year old white guy from Missouri, tell me he didn't have PTSD, many of them did, many of them still do and they have hidden it for so many years, they don't know how to deal with it now. I hope he's in a happier place now.

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