Page 924 - Total War on PTSD

At the end of April 2008, after many thoughts of suicide, I made the attempt. It was a Sunday night. I drank a bottle of Jack Daniels and took a bunch of my medication. The next morning, I missed an appointment and was found on the floor of my room. The paramedic report indicated that I was non-responsive and my heart had stopped. I was transported to the local hospital in Sierra Vista, Arizona where I spent the next three days in a coma. I spent the next two days in and out of consciousness. On the sixth day, I was released into the custody of an Army detail that transported me to the VA Hospital in Tucson, Arizona. For the next seven days I was monitored for my “health risk”.
On May 7, 2008, I was released into the custody of an Army detail. Upon returning to Fort Huachuca, I was informed that I was being medically discharged from the Army. On May 8, 2008, I drove away from the Army for the last time. I was medically discharged as Honorable. I was officially Retired. I went from station to station turning all the Army equipment in to where it was assigned from. It was another “muscle memory” experience I had completed multiple times with assignments to new units and deployments. I drove away with all my personal possessions in the world in a car that my father allowed me to borrow. I drove back to Scottsdale, Arizona and stayed the night in my car at a truck stop. For the next three days I would find places to park that would allow me to catch some shut eye while I tried to figure things out.
I was connected with a Veteran Nonprofit group that put me up in a hotel for two days. After the second day, I reached out to the Masonic Lodge in Indiana that I was a member of and asked for assistance in making the trek to my brother’s home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Over the next year the nightmares and anxiety were overwhelming. I hardly slept. And, when I did, it was not much. My PTSD and my experiences with people in general kept me from being
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