Why we think Dakota Ralle and Bub’s Bar and Grill are Community Jewels
(Updated 7/2023)
Staff Sgt. Dakota “Bub” Ralle was an active duty member of the 358th Fighter Squadron of the U.S. Air Force and served as a munitions specialist in Afghanistan. He was deployed several times. He had many comrades — friends he called his brothers.
After the first deployment to the Middle East, his family said he had become a changed man.
As he silently suffered from PTSD, he continued to boost morale in others. He became a suicide prevention advocate after one of his close friends took his life. Another comrade’s attempt was unsuccessful after Ralle stepped in to stop it.
HIs mother, Dawn Ralle, said that in 2021 Dakota started to make plans to re-enter into the civilian world. He would become a civilian on November 3, 2021 and reside in Warrensburg, MO.
On August 31, 2021, the day after the U.S. pulled troops out of Afghanistan, and four days before he would become a civilian, Ralle took his own life. He was 25.
“The demons that haunted this soldier’s mind defeated him. Dakota made the choice to end the pain, the heartache and the nightmares that consumed him,” his funeral obituary said.
Dawn said she was “stunned.” He showed no signs.
As a registered nurse who worked in emergency rooms she was accustom to the grieving process from moms. But even after she reached out for help and went to a support group, she was told she wasn’t welcome because Dakota committed suicide.
“Suicide is something nobody wants to deal with,” she said.
Her suffering moved her to open a bar in Louisburg, Kansas and name it Bub’s Bar and Grill. (Edit: Bub’s Bar and Grill Closed Summer 2023). The inspiration stemmed from jokes with Dakota about retiring and opening a bar on a beach.
While Kansas is no beach, Dawn decided good therapy for herself, and for others, should start here.
Bub’s Bar and Grill is an establishment targeted to comfort those suffering from PTSD. Dawn wanted to help soldiers and first responders, families of suicide victims, military and civilian, and allow everyone to share their stories. Pictures and notes can be hung on the “Walls of Honor” in the back. Suicide prevention numbers are posted throughout.
“Sunday mornings, from 10 to noon, my door is open for just a group meeting,” she said.
Dawn grew up in Bucyrus and graduated from Louisburg High School. Dakota grew up in Pleasanton and graduated from Pleasanton High School.
“If I save just one person . . . just one . . . then I’ve done my job,” said Dawn.
Thank you, Dakota Ralle, for serving our country. You will not be forgotten, Sir.
Thank you, Dawn, for serving the survivors.
For more information on Dakota “Bub’ Ralle and Bub’s Bar and Grill, please see related links:
Originally Published November 9, 2022
NOTE: Bub’s Bar and Grill closed summer of 2023.
RELATED LINKS & CONTRIBUTIONS:
Dakota Ralle Obituary
Republic Online
Til Valhalla Project
KSIS Radio
Bub’s Bar & Grill Menu
@rachaeldawn09 I love you so much Bubbie.. I’ll forever miss you, Dakota William Diosdado Ralle 11/01/95-08/31/21. suicide #22aday #USAF #brothersister
