Page 793 - Total War on PTSD

CHAPTER 8 - THE STRENGTH IT TAKES
Sammy the Yellow Labrador - Gabriel: I served as a Cavalry Scout (19D) in the U.S. Army from November 4th, 2004 to March 21st, 2008. My assignments included: Ft Knox KY November 2004-March 2005; Ft Hood TX March 2005-Nov 2005; Al Hillah Iraq Nov 2005-May 2006; FOB Falcon Baghdad May 2006-November 2006; Ft Hood TX Nov 2006 — Mar 2007; Ft Carson CO Mar 2007-March 2008.
I joined the Army when I was 23 Years old. I had been to college; I was working the midnight shift at a small-town police department and I felt that I was going nowhere. I had always wanted to sign up, 9/11 happened and I almost joined then and there. After the invasion of Iraq, I realized now was the time I had to go before I missed all of the action. I was very naive before I joined the Army. I was 23, but I thought I had the whole world figured out. I didn't think that the service would change me that much. When I look at the person I was in November of 2004 compared to who I was after OSUT (One Station Unit Training) at Knox, I was an entirely different person. They had literally broken me down to nothing and rebuilt me, bigger, faster, stronger, and tougher. It was amazing to me to look back four months and see the positive and life altering changes that were made to me physically and mentally in that short amount of time.
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