He has accomplished more than many 33-year-olds, the result of life-changing events during his senior year of high school.

Ethan Place is a patriotic young man who forwent college to instead enlist in the military. His sense of duty compelled him as a result of 9/11. The highly-decorated Marine sniper spent two deployments in Iraq, including during the initial Battle of Fallujah, and was awarded the Silver Star Medal as a result of the valor he displayed on the battlefield. The honor is the third highest medal awarded by the United State military.

Place is now fighting a different opponent here at home.

Last year, for reasons that are still unclear to doctors, Place’s kidneys suddenly failed.

"I was lucky I woke up in the morning and didn't have an aneurysm or a stroke," Place said.   

While he is lucky to be alive, he now has to endure nightly dialysis in order to remove toxins from his blood. The decorated Marine who was honored for valor on the battlefield is now fighting for his life everyday while hooked up to a dialysis machine.

In his absence, the community rallied around the inspirational coach to ensure he could concentrate on his recovery.

"The department did a great job covering my classes with social studies and government. A lot of people made sure myself and the students were taken care of," Place said. "That was a huge relief not having to worry and take on all of that."

His players offered support in the form of an inspired performance on the field. The team that had been shut out for 11 straight quarters this season, went out and turned its season around with a surprising 25-22 overtime victory over a rival school .

“We missed his leadership while he was gone,” senior linebacker Mitch Richterkessing said to STLToday.com. “We were really worried about him, but we wanted to make him proud while he was gone.”

The victory is a keystone in the team’s recent resurgence as it gets set to enter the post season.

Surprisingly, the team has coalesced and built chemistry during such a tumultuous time. The head coach has been the team’s inspiration and his ability to motivate isn’t limited to current players. Andrew Hammond assumed the role of head coach during Place’s absence. Hammond graduated from Holt in 2008 and played for Place while Pace was an assistant.

The young interim head coach knew the win meant a lot to the players and their head coach.

“The kids knew that was more than a win for us, more than a win for the program,” Hammond said. “It was a win for him. It's really cool to see the kids not only play for one another but play for a coach.”

The winning has continued since the coach recently returned to the sidelines, including the squad winning its first home game in two seasons.  This Friday, the coach and his team will travel to rival Washington to compete in the first round of the post season.

The team is excited to have their head coach lead the charge.

“He's a big part of our team. We need him to keep everything going, to keep everything straight,” junior quarterback Drew Law said to STLToday.com. “It was weird not having him on the sideline talking to me about what's going on in the game. Having him back is a big help for us.”

 

Photo courtesy of Facebook / They Were Heroes - Ethan Place is on the left.