Page 750 - Total War on PTSD

did different ceremonies and so forth. The one thing that happened to me, because I was in the Army and had working knowledge of weapons, I would handle the weapon part of the honor guard. Well, I was going to this function, and these were M1 Garad Rifles so they didn't work but I was told, during a call while we were enroute to the even to present the colors, that because of my current status, that I had to relinquish the weapon to the next person, that I couldn't handle it. How do you think that made me feel? I talked to my Commanding Officer afterwards and told him what happened and his only response was the word "Noted." That basically means I hear you but I'm not going to do anything about it. I knew of other Flight Medics in my unit who were also having problems, but they saw what happened to us and didn't say a word because they didn't want to get kicked out of the military too.
My wonderful wife Janet is my VA sponsored Caregiver. She has been helping me out in this capacity since 2011. Janet's 'puppy' is named Zippy, he is a Boxer and is basically our family pet. He earned his name because of his being a quick little guy. We did have another Boxer whose name was Snigglebutt (Janet named him) and he was named that because of whenever he was petted his little nub tail would go wild every time. Janet trained him to be a Therapy Dog and go into homes and hospitals, like the Ronald McDonald House so that the kids could pet him and so he could provide some comfort and happiness for those patients. He passed away a few years ago from cancer. After he passed, I told Janet that, when she was ready, and I didn't care where we had to go to do it, but we would go and get her another puppy if that's what she wanted. Well, Zippy was in Missouri and we live in Montana, so we got in the truck and I drove all the way to Joplin, Missouri and brought him home. He isn't trained to be a therapy dog...he is our house dog.
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