“Blues Brother”, Mississipi, USA

“I was sent down into town with these Iraqi policemen. As soon as we role up, the people we were suppose to be meeting ran over to these bodies that had bombs hidden under them. They were blown up once they were close enough. Within four or five days the Taliban had taken over the city. I had PTSD real bad when I got back but if you get help, and go to counseling, you learn to deal with it. It is something that will always be there. If you choose to get the help and follow it, it doesn’t define you as person and rule your life anymore. There are a lot of people who wont get the help, or don’t like what they’re being told while getting it.  One of the things my first counselor told me was that a lot of people don’t want to open up and talk about the trauma part.  She explained that ‘pain shared is pain divided, and joy shared is joy multiplied.’ When she said that, it was like, ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ That’s been my mantra ever since.”