Page 779 - Total War on PTSD

being urged to get another Service Dog already by friends and family. From the ‘tool’ standpoint, though it’s painful, it’s sometimes so painful that you feel like you can deal with just about ANYTHING once you’ve dealt with the harshest of PTSD symptoms. Knowing how deeply those symptoms can affect you, it does at times seem like only death could be worse.
I served as an Artillery Forward Observer (13F) in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne Division, 2/319th Army Field Artillery Regiment (AFAR), from May 2004 to November 2005. I was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC but was deployed to multiple locations across Iraq including Baghdad and Mosul from November 2004 to April of 2005. This combat position involved calling in artillery and airstrikes. I also provided direct and suppressive fire during firefights with the 2nd Company, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment (AIR), to whom I was attached.
Aside from being knocked around pretty hard several times in combat, I did not think I did anything to warrant a Purple Heart being awarded to me. The VA has provided care to me for my injuries but their care is substandard...and they have acted inappropriately the entire time I have dealt with them. This should not come as surprising news. These feelings also do not reflect specific individuals whom are my medical providers so much as the VA as a whole. Some of my injuries were caused from losing friends...from seeing and doing things I saw and did on a daily basis...all from being at war.
Our unit worked with a Military Working Dog while on Active Duty on deployment. We only ran a few patrols with Max, the German Shepherd, but he was a company favorite Bomb- Sniffing Dog. If I had been given the opportunity, I would have adopted Max once he was done with his service but I didn’t have the chance. Instead, I settled for a dog like Max in many ways.
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