Page 732 - Total War on PTSD

CHAPTER 1 - BORN TOUGH
Annie the Staffordshire Terrier, Titan the Pitbull, Roman the Pitbull/Boxer, and Zeus the Pitbull: I served in the U.S. Army from October 1968 to October 1969 (Fort Ord, California) but was not given the opportunity to go to Vietnam during that time, as I was told, because I was not a nurse and because they said I would be a distraction to the troops. I ended up going to Vietnam as a writer after I got out of the Army. When I have a goal, I am relentless.
Being in the military had a very dark downside due to a violent assault. However, the benefits are so many with my medical, college and work ethics and I, for one, have been treated with respect and consideration by my providers at the VA.
I learned to never give up and that I would survive but I was very naive when I enlisted in the Army. I had been a professional model and felt I wanted to serve my country. Although my previous life as a model was so far removed from being a Soldier, I was able to be stronger, more independent, resilient and powerful. I had planned to stay in the Army but an incident changed my life. I was assaulted on post by three individuals and believe they meant to kill me. They were Soldiers as well. Having a miscarriage or pregnancy at that time meant an automatic discharge. So, my plans and what I had focused on as a career were completely destroyed in that violent assault. I felt violated, deceived and completely undone. For many years after that
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