Laravel Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ' public' (T_STRING), expecting function (T_FUNCTION) or const (T_CONST)

I must be blind or something, my Controller is not behaving as expected but I don't see anything wrong in my code. I get "syntax error, unexpected ' public' (T_STRING), expecting function (T_FUNCTION) or const (T_CONST)", right after declaring "class ContactController extends Controller {"

My controller:

<?php

namespace AppHttpControllers;

use AppHttpControllersController;
use IlluminateHttpRequest;
use AppContactUS;

class ContactController extends Controller {
   /**
    * Show the application dashboard.
    *
    * @return IlluminateHttpResponse
    */
   public function index(Request $request)
   {
       return view('contactUS');
   }
}


If I do this:

class ContactController extends Controller {
function index(Request $request){
return view('contactUS');
}
}


I get "unexpected ' function' (T_STRING), expecting function (T_FUNCTION) or const (T_CONST)"

My model:

<?php

namespace App;

use IlluminateDatabaseEloquentModel;

class ContactUS extends Model
{
public $table = 'contactus';
public $fillable = ['name', 'email', 'message'];
}


My route:

Route::get('contact', [
'as' => 'contact-us',
'uses' => 'ContactController@index'
]);


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