I have been to war,
But that is not the battle I had to win
2011 I deployed to helmand province Afghanistan. Getting off that plane felt like I walked into a furnace and was about to melt! Did an entire 7 month deployment as a navy corpsman alongside the marines of 5/11 romeo battery.
It was tough,hard,boring,crazy, and traumatic. My job simply put was to rush to the aide of wounded marines and provide aid while also being a rifleman marine simultaneously.
Getting home it took a year and a half of my wife telling me “ something is wrong with you” for me to finally go get help.
I became so accustomed to death and dying in my mind that I actually became OK with the nightmares, the flashbacks, and wanting to avoid all people.
So I reluctantly began the therapeutic process and got through it. I no longer have the symptoms mentioned above. It is relieving to say!
Now it’s important to note that though it took me a few quick sentences to describe that whole process,it is not to negate how tremendously hard it was to get to a point of release of those symptoms.
But very quickly I came to notice,Afghanistan and even the trauma from it was nothing in comparison to what stood before me.
On paper I did a five year enlistment in the United States Navy. In real life I group up…
