"People think we kill without any thought, but they don't know what we live with after"

“When they did that to me, they robbed me of something that I can’t get back”

I hear statements like this all the time. To sit across from fellow combat vets and trauma survivors and hear them say these things, or to be emailed or messaged them on social media from friends I served with…

One thing that’s almost a near-constant in my work with my Brothers and Sisters is various kinds of negativity. Anger, resentment, hostility, outright hatred. It seems like folks have lots to be angry and hateful about...

“People just don’t care. They live their sheltered lives and have no idea what we’ve been through!!”

“How can they possibly understand? They’ve never deployed before!”

“I never got counseling because I don’t need some [expletive] who’s never walked in our boots to tell me what I need to do!!”

As someone who works with active duty military, veterans and their family members I hear these statements (and more) on an almost daily basis. As a combat veteran who struggled...