Attending the ceremony was Andrew Beasom of Penfield, who led a friend of a friend on a leash — Romeo, an American Staffordshire terrier, pit bull and boxer mix, whose late master was Dominic Falcone of Pittsburgh and Altoona, who died of an overdose around Thanksgiving last year.

“He was a good dude,” Beasom said after the short ceremony near the big flagpole by the hospital’s main entrance, after remarks and a prayer from chaplain Julia Allen.

Falcone was kind and compassionate, said Tammy Cooney, a veteran who was a friend of both Beasom and Falcone.

He was also a willing would-be protector, even though, by the time of his death, he was thin and probably “couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag,” Beasom said.

Fifty-five purple flags representing the Blair County lives lost to overdose in 2023 surround the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center flag pole. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

A jokester, Beasom once entered Falcone’s home, pretending to be fired up, telling Falcone he’d just encountered a group of guys outside who wanted to fight.

Falcone jumped up immediately, ready to go, Beasom said.

He also once “threatened to beat up a dude who was trying to make me relapse,” Beasom said.

They were similar people, and both of them had issues with drugs, Beasom said.

Beasom was a combat veteran who served in the Army in Iraq in 2005 and 2006.

Andrew Beasom of Penfield kneels in prayer with his dog, Romeo, during the Overdose Awareness Day Ceremony at James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center on Thursday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

He’d hurt his back in a training accident, was given morphine for the pain for five or six years, then denied further access to the drug when he came home.

“They made me quit cold turkey,” Beasom said. “Off to the street I went,” he said.

He ended up on methamphetamine.

Falcone was an Army veteran, too, serving stateside.

“I met him through the substance abuse program,” Beasom said after the ceremony. “Our friendship, or better yet, our brotherhood, began when I’d take him and a couple of the other guys from the group fishing.”

They’d share stories, he said.

“He could understand things,” Beasom said.

Beasom would tell the others “how our Lord and Savior saved me,” he said.

Beasom and Falcone became close, and Beasom got his friend Romeo, the dog.

Not long before Falcone died, he “gave his life to Christ,” Beasom said.

The overdose that killed him was probably inadvertent, according to Cooney and Beasom.

Falcone was diabetic, with heart and intestinal problems, and in the weeks before his death, he was hallucinating because he was mixing up his medications, said Cooney, who used to drive Falcone where he needed to go.

He overdosed on methadone, a drug designed to wean people off more addictive substances, Cooney said.

He took several days’ worth all at once, she said.

Her 11-year old daughter used to converse with Falcone, and Falcone was pleased that the child would talk to him “like he was a normal person,” Cooney said.

Actually, “he was a man of great heart and standards,” Beasom said.

Attending the event were clinicians from the hospital, including nurse practitioner Sandra Rhodes and pharmacist Karch Helsel — both of whom specialize in pain relief.

Their team, which includes pharmacists, nurses and a psychologist, tries to steer patients away from addictive medications, they said.

There are various alternative “modalities,” including battlefield acupuncture, they said.

There were 55 Blair County overdose deaths overall in 2023 and 251 overdose deaths in the hospital’s 14-county territory that year — both numbers down from the previous year, Allen said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.