Till Death, Or Disfigurement, Do We Part: Renee Kline Divorces Wounded Iraq Veteran Tyler Ziegel
Illinois: Ty Ziegel lost his face, hand, fingers and a part of skull in Iraq, but Renee loved him and decided to marry him. Tyler Ziegel and Renee Kline were heroes for any romantic soul in the USA when they got married, despite Tyler`s severe injuries, showing that love conquers all. Until Renee left him.
After a year and three months, the fairy tale ended, Tyler`s appearance and mental state became too large an obstacle in their relationship. Their story is just like the ones we see in the movies. Young man and a girl from a little American town fall in love, get engaged right out of high school and decide to move in together in the same little town, which they never left. But then, the young man goes off to war.
Unlike the movies, the young man returns disfigured. A suicide bomber irrevocably took away his youth in that fateful 2004. Ty lost his left hand, three right-hand fingers, a part of his skull, he cannot see on one of his eyes and his face is entirely disfigured.
Regardless of the tragedy, his girlfriend waited for him in their hometown Metamora, Illinois. She stuck by him as he underwent more than 50 operations and could hardly wait for him to recover enough to get married. The great day happened on October 6, 2006. The public was stunned. The governor of Illinois proclaimed the day a state holiday and the media covered the event, writing: “Love conquers all!”.
It does in fairy tales, but not quite in the lives of young people. Renee realised she has many years ahead of her and Tyler will never be the same again. Apart from his appearance, his behaviour was a problem also. Ty suffers from a severe type of PTSD, often having mood-swings. He was not fully capable of having sex either, because too much excitement would knock him unconscious.
Renee could not fight it, she realised they could go through everything as friends. Therefore, she just left in January this year. Tyler assumes she is with another man, but he does not mind because she is still with him. He believes their relationship is now much deeper and closer, without the pressure of the public, marriage and everything around them.
The young man does not regret what happened to him because he is a burning patriot and Republican. He knew he wanted to go to war right after September 11, 2001. His three years younger brother Zach followed in his footsteps. He does not regret his love because he is aware she has had a tough time and he will eternally be grateful to her because she stuck by him during the hardest moments of his life.
Ty has come to terms with what has happened, he does not look back, but forward. He even had a tattoo done, reading: “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift!”. This is his motto. He gets out as much as he can, he hangs out with the same friends. Deep down, he is the same person.
Wow! What a little bitch!!! It’s supposed to be till death do you part, not till you get sick of looking at your husband’s disfigured face. These two were together for a long time. Then this bitch up and leaves him when he gets injured in the line of duty. Look at the deer in the headlights look on her face. You can tell she doesn’t want to get married.
Ok so I’m a fucking hypocrite. I’d do the exact same fucking thing here. While I’d probably not divorce the person, since I loved them I’d stay with them. But I’d absolutely be banging other broads. That’s going to be written in the contract. If I was in this dudes place, I’d understand that my wife would need to be banging other dudes like Enrique the pool boy or whatever. But you’d damn well better come home and change my damn diaper and feed me still.
Oh and I just wanted to say, thank god for people like Ty here. Putting his life, and apparently his marriage, on the life to serve our country. We need more people like him. My hats off to him.
UPDATE 1-2-13: So I have confirmed after seeing comments here that indeed Tyler has passed away on Christmas day I think. From the sounds of it, he slipped and fell on some ice and hit his head. There’s not a lot of information out there unfortunately. I also read that he might have had an enlarged heart.
If anyone would like a forum to discuss Tyler, his life, his injuries, his divorce, his death, I have a section set up in our forums dedicated to Tyler Zeigel where you can feel free to post and discuss anything pertaining to this story
I’m absolutely one to believe people hypocritically give looks far more weight they they’ll ever admit they do, but I don’t think that’s the case here. He was disfigured before they got married, so she knew what she was getting into. I think the more likely culprit is the PTSD. Having been in a relationship with someone who has it, I can tell you first hand it’s no joke. These kind of people can be frightening, are often unstable, and usually unpredictable.
You’re absolutely right Frank. I have been there, and had to get out. All of the after affects of war aren’t physically visible, but are horrible.
I totally agree. My ex-husband was a marine and after going to war he was never the same. He ended up being bi-polar and violent. He lied and cheated and no matter how much I tried to make things work I wasn’t treated the way I should have been. I can only imagine what this guy was like after something so horrible happening to him. At least she decided to stay friends with him. I never wanna see my ex again!
do you wanna see me
I understand, my father fought in the Korean war, and as late as 40 years later when I was a child, I would wake up from hearing him screaming in his sleep….still have horrible flashbacks….It is scary, I commend those who go out to fight for us….I honestly do not think I could physically and mentally go through with that….my mother and father has also not been together since my toddler hood. As a veteran the military never left his soul, and it cause a series of issues in their relationship,
I wish the 18 year old sons of our Congressman and Senators would think the same way…
you said “Fight for us”. I say fight for what, OIL! Brother pls use your brain. US politicians and most of the other nation’s politicians are pure evil, greedy bastards. PERIOD! Whole world knows why US is there in MEast. When did Iraq attack you may I ask! War should be the last resort and there are no winners in a war. It should only be declared when being attacked. 911 is %101 inside job plus lets say it is TRUE, what give a country the right to another just bc a few organized an attack on US soil? Remember they were Saudis in the plane (supposedly) so why America did not attack to Saudi Arabia! Bc they give you oil! I love Americans generally and there are good an bad everywhere but you guys are seriously ruled by tyrants. Please accept it at least someday!
Where ya been Frank??? Missed your comments! I agree as well. I bet a big part was the PTSD, but it’s stated right in the article that it was both that and his appearance that caused her to leave
Those who are mad at the girl need to stop being a bitch. There were more problems than just the looks. She’s also young and has her whole life ahead of her. There’s nothing wrong with them just being friends. The same thing would of happened the girl was in his position. Id say the main reason why they divorced was prob because anyone who went through that much trauma in the war comes back as a complete different person mentally and it wouldn’t be right for her to be forced to stay with him out of guilt and obligation.
THANK YOU!!! I love all these people who only read SOME of the words. It’s unfair that the article even stated anything about his looks because it was clear the problem was his PTSD. I don’t know that I could have done it either. The looks don’t matter to me, but I know, due to NOT being a very young girl anymore, that I am not strong enough to handle PTSD. I wish I could, but I just cant. I bet the poor girl will always hate the awkward position she ended up in with all the drama.
I knew Tyler and I can say, without a doubt, he was full of life. We went to combat engineer school together. However, after him returning home to join his reserve unit we lost contact with each other as I was active duty. A lot happens and who knows what time and experiences will do to a person. One of our “classmates”, my roommate, lost his life in 2003 in Iraq. There was a lot of hype about how mangled Tyler is after recovering along with being the poster-child as it were for the Wonded Warrior Project. I hate this for him. As far as his ex, I never knew her. The physical can be accepted by those closest to you. Sure, you’re going to get weird looks in the check-out line, but I believe the mental is what kills close relationships, especially knowing how they behaved before that life-changing event to how they are today.
Did anyone tell you that she was sleeping with other men while he was gone?
I feel awful for the man, but I can see why she left.She stuck by him and she obviously still cares for him post divorce. PTSD can be frightening and unpredictable- who knows what kind of situation it was, how scary it got, that she felt she had to break her vows? Maybe you should walk a mile in her shoes before you go labelling her.
Shes probably had enough crap thrown at her by a load of people who haven’t gone through what she went through, without you putting your pennysworth in.
Shut it, PaulL
get off the girls nuts. people get divorced everyday and when she leaves this guy, you bitch about it? fucking scumbags. she cant enjoy any part of her marriage. she cant get laid, and when she makes his BLT wrong he flies off the handle because of the ptsd and gives her a smack. thats not life. but i should join the bandwagon and say “fuck you bitch, you dont deserve happiness!” ???? blow me.
well said
http://www.salon.com/2007/03/10/berman_photo/
In case you’re wondering, the picture was not their wedding portrait. It was done by a photographer, in a studio not involved in their actual wedding day, as part of an art exhibit.
That being said, I agree with most other commenters…. she knew about the disfigurement going in. PTSD is the more likely culprit.
It’s not fair to judge her when you don’t know how he could have changed from going through that. It’s so easy to judge her without knowing how they were to each in real life. War changes people and if they can’t over come that it can affect a marriage. Without knowing what happened, I don’t think it is our business to judge her. Thank you to him for serving our country and I am sorry he has had to suffer this. I hope that he finds peace and happiness with himself.
I dislike photos like this one, I feel too strongly he is being used as a mascot of war. promoting more men or women to go and fight. which just exacerbates it. Even Ty said that he wanted to fight after 9/11. Why does he deserve more credit than any other person who fights out there for what they believe? I would call Ty a lucky one, he got out alive, there are hundreds of thousands of people still out there who could die any day (excuse the pessimism). He’s safe at home. What I’m trying to say is let’s not forget the millions who have died due to war in the past.
“The young man does not regret what happened to him because he is a burning patriot and Republican”
What an odd comment.
That is an odd comment. Specifically the “burning” comment considering his injuries.
Not odd. Fundamentalism is not exclusive to the ‘enemy’ you know…
Thanks for all the great comments. It seems people are interested in discussing this story further. I created a section in our discussion forums to continue this discussion rather than commenting here. Either way, but the discussion forums might be easier. http://www.thatswhyyouremyex.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=14
@TheChief: your Comment on the whole story made me laugh, “Bang the pool boy” hahahahahaha!
Glad you liked it Andrew. All my stories are like this. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/twymx or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ThatsWhyUrMyEx
I remember when they got married, and thought they were insane for marrying so young and not properly discussing the future. I’m not surprised at all they got divorced.
Really sorry for this guy and know a little how it came about. I was a professional firefighter and was trapped in a fire in the line of duty. While I did suffer burns I was nothing like Ty. But I did suffer from severe PTSD due to the fact that I nearly killed my whole crew through a decision that I made at that arson incident. In less than a year after my wife and I split following months of comments like “pull yourself together or I’m leaving”. Well she did and at the same time also did all she could to destroy me and clean me out. Probably the worst time of my life and for a long time I wished that I had died that night.
Moral? Not everyone understands what is happening when they can’t see the injury/damage within. They also aren’t trained in how to take care so in the end it becomes fight or flight which in either case can all go so very wrong.
I am 14 years on now and I look back and think good riddance, do I still have pain from all those years ago…yep! It never leaves you just learn to keep it tucked away where it can’t become a problem any more.
William — don’t know if you will see this, given how long it has been since your response — but I would love to get to know you. You seem like a great guy who hasbeen through a lot. LouAnn – pigletsteph@hotmail.com
Dude, as a former soldier with PTSD, I can understand what he is going through, some days you be pretty happy, other times, you can be very very depressed, and nothing can bring you out of that funk, she married him for 5 1/2 years, that longer than mine was. You ask a girl to put up with a guy who can get so depressed, he doesn’t acknowledge that you even exist. most people know that you need someone with the patience of a saint, and huge amount of sacrifice to put up with it.
George, first off, thank you for your service. Second, this is an old story (2007) and she only stayed with him less than a year. But my point was more to try to make light of a really tragic story.
i see, well, this pic is being posted on facebook by people trying to get other “share” if they honor his sacrifice in order to access their accounts.
«Then this bitch up and leaves him when he gets injured in the line of duty»
-what ‘duty’…?
I am awfully sorry for him but anyone dumb enough to believe all the Iraq media farce and the us government’s lies does so at his/her own risk and peril.
there is absolutely NO duty to kill other human beings, specially not based on a cosmic lie like the 9/11.
fuck you
You’re an ass, Tonia. A blithering, conspiracy idiot ass.
Shut up, please just be quiet. I know that rich north eastern hipsters like you were not affected at all by the war in Iraq, but as someone who’s brother, fiancé, and cousin’s husband had a duty to go and fight for the United States I want you to understand that war is horrible and should not be spoken of so lightly until you know what the fuck you are talking about. The war in iraq was not only about oil and “the 9/11 cosmic lie” but also to win the freedom of women in the middle east against the Taliban. It is our duty, and people like Ty Ziegal are the real american heroes, before any politician or president.
Whether or not you are loony and think 9/11 was a conspiracy, when you are in a branch of the United States military and your Commander In Chief says jump, you ask how high. And yes, he was serving his DUTY which he signed up for willingly
Both my husband and my son are Iraq veterans. My son joined up after he graduated high school, served six years in the Reserves, did tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, they both did their DUTY.
Whether armchair quarterbacks and conspiracy theorists think so or not.
Calling this girl a bitch for not being able to handle something you certainly could not, you are the BITCH! I am pretty sure we do not have a draft, he knew the risk and chose to join the military.
I agree with you 100%. his comments were uncalled for, he was not in their shoes, I actually live within 15minutes of their town and its a very small town. We are blessed to have a patriot like him, its great they still have a relationship together. Their relationship is not our business.
It becomes our business when they put themselves out there in the news stories and photographs. Plus I’m an asshole so I say what everyone else just thinks but doesn’t say.
Most of what I say is pejorative just to try to get a rise out of people. I’m glad I was able to
In the article it stated why she left. It wasn’t because of his disfigured face, it was the severe mood swings and probably that she wants to have sex with the person she loves. If you were married to someone you couldn’t have sex with in your 20s and you were scared to be around them due to PTSD mood swings, would you stick around? Probably not. Calling her a bitch is not even close to fair.
My husband is a veteran and suffers from severe PTSD and our marriage almost ended in ruins several times. My brother is also a marine veteran and suffers the same issues. A veteran has to be willing and choose to get the help they need, if they don’t, the relationships they have with other people will suffer. Luckily after many years of problems like drug and alcohol abuse, my husband decided to help himself on the road to recovery. Because of his medications and treatment regularly, including viagra for the problems downstairs, our marriage is better than ever. My brother on the other hand, denial, denial, denial and is a raging alcoholic though he will never admit it and recently divorced. None of us over here in this country can imagine what this war did to our soldiers, but guess what-we caused this by voting for those in office that wanted this war. We sit over here watching our reality television, eating junk food in our nice cozy homes, while their bodies and minds suffered irreversible damage. How did we treat veterans of Vietnam back then, the same way we treat those from Iraq and Afghanistan. Renee was neither wrong nor right in this case. She might have been able to do more but may not have known what to do or may not have been willing to. It is normal for PTSD victims to push people away and resist treatment, they often can not handle social situations or open up to family members. They can be violent and impulsive and often suffer from depression and if Renee and Ty had children, it could put them in danger too. To bash and cuss someone out without knowing the whole story is not cool.
Angie — you are corect on sooo many levels! Members of the military — and their families — have my greatest respect, admiration and gratitude. With regards to the PTSD, my ex-husband was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2006 (we had been married for just over 3 years and I was pregnant with our 4th child at the time). Our lives were completely turned upside down overnight – literally because he’d had such a massive exacerbation that he not only spent a week in the hospital – his left side was so affected that he was left completely disabled and no longer able to work. He was the “bread-winner” and I was a stay-at-home mom. I immediately went to work full-time, then eventually took on a second job, trying to make ends meet — before I eventually realizedd I needed to go back to school and finish getting my nursing license because I was not able to provide for my family and ensure he was receiving the care he needed on my income as a CNA — not to mention the fact that I was almost never able to be home with my family from having to work so much.
I finished my prereqs and began nursing school — it took me nearly 4 years to reach that point because I was still needing to work, etc.!! During those four years my husband became more and more distant, refused to open up, refused to go to counseling — and he eventually reached the point that he was so cold toward me that he refused to even hug me.
I came home from school one day to discover that he was having an affair. I was devestated — but I still tried to save our marriage. It was during this time that he FINALLY told me that he resented me for “taking over” his role and for going on with my life when his was over!!! (I couldn’t believe it — he didn’t even see everything that I had taken on and was trying to do in order to take care of him! Especially when there are many women who would have left after he had been disabled and/or definitely would not have stuck around if they were being treated the way I was — and yet I had stayed by his side — never leaving him, never cheating on him!!!)
These traumatic experiences definitely affect a person, and they aren’t the same, and likely never will come even close to it – UNLESS they make the decision for themselves to seek the help that they need….My ex-husband didn’t — but in our case, it wasn’t his illness or his mood swings that tore our marriage apart — it was his infidelity and resentment. I try to work with him as well as I can for the sake of our children — because their well-being comes first in my eyes — but even this isn’t easy because of his unexpected mood swings, etc.
You’re right. My relationship with my fiancé Patrick went through the same challenges, but I’m glad to say he is more open to me and the people who love him now. My heart goes out to you, Renee, and everyone else in this situation. The soldiers and veterans have my respect and admiration.
I think people are way to hard on his ex wife. Post traumatic stress disorder can be a very hard thing to deal with. They were young and got married way too soon after he came back.
The chief is a little bitch sitting behind a computer a mommys house.
Well, my smoking hot 115lb girlfriend is laying next to me in bed and my mom is no where in sight. Sorry to disappoint you.
Honestly, you can’t expect that they would stay together.
i can tell you that he is not dead…they both have a facebook page he under ty ziegal and she under renee kline who is oddly in a relationship with a man named tyler…look them up if u need confirmation u can either search on fb but google is probably faster….anyway just thought id add that in case anyone wanted to know…
He died Christmas night 2012.
Do you happen to have a link to Renee’s Facebook page?
Tyler ziegel is the most awesome person I’ve EVER met. No question about that. He is my hero!!
To- (The Chief), I have a feeling you are a sad pathetic person. Why mention that your “smoking hot” 115lb, girlfriend was lying next to you? Is it because you base beauty on outward appearance? Where would your fictional girlfriend be if you were disfigured? Oh that’s right, you don’t have the intestinal fortitude to risk your life for the well being and rights of others. I suffer from ptsd from my military service in the US Army, and while I still have my looks, I have almost constant panic, anxiety, mood swings, sleep problems… the list goes on and on. However I have a beautiful fiance who loves me regardless of my problems, as she loves me for who I am. As a veteran I give my highest respect to Ty, and his marriage and personal life are none of our business…. period! What’s his shit is his shit, whats yours is yours, everyone should worry about their own Damn selves. If they have a problem with Ty or his Ex, then be a man… talk to the source! All I see here is a lot of high-school drama whiny assed punks whining, bitching, and spreading their shit for personal enjoyment and or something. So grow the hell up, learn respect, learn to love with your heart and not your eyes. And to TY….Semper Fi, Marine!
I hung out with Ty today and watched him
Ride off on his motorcycle. He’s very well
lol@ the people saying “it wuz ptsd”. I’m a realist and guarantee the sole reason is that hes FUBAR.
Tyler passed away on Chrismas. Very sad….
I was wondering why the traffic to this post has increased today. That’s sad. How did he die? Any idea?
Fell on the ice and hit his head! Remember he was missing part of his skull. Not for sure, but could have hit that spot.
I was so very sorry to hear of Tyler’s passing. I had the HONOR of knowing him. He was truly an AWESOME man. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Tyler was a great guy. He had a rough time since his injuries. May he RIP.
Unfortunately Ty died a few days ago on Christmas. he fell on the ice and hit his head. Sympathies to the family. Funeral arrangements are pending.
He passed away Christmas night.
Ty died in December 2012, he fell on ice and died. He had hundreds at his service.
What stood out to me was the fact that he could have gotten away without those serious injuries but would not leave his “pokemon cards”! He wasn’t the same guy she was engaged to. There were probably mental changes too. I would have been too angry at him for thinking of his cards intsead of me.
Could you please explain what your reference to the cards means? First time I had ever heard anything about them.
I’d say “No, don’t explain Marie… it’s just hearsay and Ty’s not here to explain a thing so don’t come out now with any wild tales.” His wife or ex is not even mentioned in the obituary so those closest to Ty obviously don’t want her input or output into a THING. Perhaps she’s done enough damage already and it doesn’t need to continue.
Amen.
I’m married to a medically retired soldier who was severely burned in 2006. Unless you have walked in our shoes do not judge or condemn without knowing the complete story. I’ve personally seen marriages fail (not just because of injury) and people fall in love after severe injury. It is a far from easy life and not anyone can handle the new normal that comes with these type of injuries. Please focus on the service, love, courage and sacrifice that was made by this Marine and all who knew him. There is a time to argue and a time to accept and let go. Semper Fi. There is another guard at the gates now.
Was Reene wrong in parting from Ziegel? Definitely not. Being outside watchers, it is so easy for us to comment – but alas, so inappropriate. This kind of situation so tough (for both of them) to handle. If she felt impossible to continue, then that is it.