God love them for this!

A loose-knit group of volunteers, most of them former Marines who faced combat in Vietnam, has assembled this week to continue a ground search for a fellow Marine veteran who fled - apparently from phantom enemies - into a sparsely developed area of Deep Creek more than a week ago.

The volunteers are patrolling along the Peace River, checking vacant buildings and conducting foot patrols on remote trails through the brush.

They-re searching for any sign of Eric W. Hall, 24.

Originally from Indiana, Hall fled from his aunt’s Deep Creek house Feb. 3. Medically retired from the Marine Corps in 2005 after a roadside bomb caused a traumatic injury to his left leg, Hall suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

He was experiencing a “flashback” and thought people were “after him” at the time he disappeared that afternoon, his family told police.

Equipped with flashlights and maps, some of the former Marines have even paired up to walk remote trails at night. They were out until well after 3 a.m. Tuesday, said searcher Charlie Shaughnessy, a Port Charlotte resident who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Marines.

“He’s a Marine,” Shaughnessy said. “It takes a Marine to find a Marine.”

The volunteers have pointed out Hall would have been trained on survival tactics. If he didn-t want to be found, he-d lay low during daylight hours and scavenge during the night.

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