I suppose that I should start this letter by thanking you for taking the time to read what I have to say, but I’m not going to do that. Not because I want to be rude, but because this is something that you need to hear this former soldier has to say. And before you check my military history I’ll admit that I did in fact make some mistakes. I apologize in advance for those, and if given the opportunity I‘ll be more than glad to address them.
But for now I feel that there is something about OUR military that I need to get off of my chest. The current mental preparedness, evaluation, monitoring and treatment of OUR troops is an absolute travesty. The way that the mental side of the soldier is handled is the biggest mistake in the history of man. Right now we care more about how we treat captives than we are about Pvt. Smith., the pictures and video show the gory side of war…HBO has a show about what it’s like inside of a hospital in a war zone, but they don’t have a show about the lives of soldiers after they’ve been at home. And sorry to all of my “physically disabled” Vets, but how about seeing what it’s like when all of your scars are on the INSIDE, show how the families have to adjust and COPE then. Tell a story about how hard it is for us without outside wounds to heal, the things we keep on the inside to protect others, our secrets, our pain…There is a lot going on that no one seems to see. But if any of you news outlets does a little research, look at crime stats, hospital visits, jobless rate, home environments. Local news stations reach out and contact a Vet, seek us out. We’ve got a great story to tell you, it’ll blow you away.
I suppose that any of us are on the verge of breaking or "snapping" everyday. But it's the amount of pressure that some of us returning Veterans are under everyday of our lives. There are several days in which I want to quit, quit on everything. As a matter of fact I do give up, I do quit, I’m even thinking about giving up right now because I feel that just like all of my of my other letters, this one will just get marked as spam and tossed away…Suicidal thoughts, drug abuse, alcohol dependency, violent outbursts all things that I see everyday, some of which I have experienced myself. I however have found an outlet with which to use as a source as self medication, others are not as fortunate. I choose to tell the world how I feel on any given day, I bear my heart and my soul as a way to cope. I ask today that someone join and help me find a way to help those who have scars on the inside, I ask you to help me tell someone else that we need to focus more on the MENTAL side of war, that the torture on the outside is nothing compared to the amount of torture that wars live inside.
Thank You,
.2.
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