New Hampshire First Lady Valerie Sununu

Dear First Lady Valerie Sununu,
My name is Kathleen Scarpone. I am a New Hampshire Ambassador for the 50-state campaign
called “First Ladies Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall”. My son’s picture is part of the Faces of
Fentanyl Memorial wall at the DEA museum in Washington, DC. I have traveled to DC on
several occasions and witnessed the truly sad, but also moving tribute to our loved ones. It
encapsules the beauty of our children and the legacy of their lives, but also witness to how their
lives were cut short in the wake of the fentanyl crisis our country faces.
We believe that by displaying our loved one’s pictures in all 50 state capitals will create such an
endearing memorial for the lives lost and the growing number of statistics that we face in our
states. The grieving families who are driving this campaign have already created a virtual drug
epidemic wall in each state, but our fight is not finished, as this memorial wall in our state’s
capital will be a reminder of the ones who no longer have a voice. We are their voices now.
I would like to tell you a little bit about my son, Sgt. Joseph Scarpone, USMC. Joey had a
passion for the military at an early age. He participated in the JRTOC program in Hish School.
When he was 17 years old, he joined the USMC and served his country, including a year in the
war on Afghanistan from 2010-2011. When he returned, we realized he was suffering from
PTSD. The war took a toll on his mental health state. He spent several months (on and off) at a
local VA facility. We discovered he was using drugs to help his PTSD. That unfortunately led him
to street drugs. He went to rehabs, treatment centers, counselors but drugs controlled his life.
Drugs were not a choice for my son, addition stole his life on June 13, 2015, 1 month before his
26th birthday of a fentanyl overdose.
Since his passing, I have been passionate about assisting grieving families with love, support
and friendship while raising awareness of substance use disorder and the impact it has on our
communities. I have spoken at several DEA events for “Operation Engage” with the Mark
Wahlberg Youth Foundation and Governor Sununu, as well as the Bridge Street Recovery
center in Bennington, NH.
We not only lost a son, but someone lost a sibling, a cousin, a grandchild, an uncle, and a
friend. Would you please consider putting up a Memorial War in his honor and all those who
have lost a family member.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Scarpone
Kingston, NH