I have met a lot of vets in my time at the San Francisco VA. I met a 27 year old a few months ago who had signed up at 18 years old with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a fire team leader with the 82nd Airborne, lots of action and loss and pain. He's in school now, making himself into a productive member of society.
As with all 'my' guys I asked about his drinking and drug use. He is using a lot. My message to him was that we are here to help no matter what. My message was that he has a responsibility to the name he wears on his wrist and in his heart to be responsible for what he does, that he must go forth into this nation and world and work toward helping society avoid the wars that cause us to wear the names of dead people on our wrist.
His friend and buddy would not want him to waste his time and life drinking or using. We were both close to tears on this one. But here he is at 27 heading toward a career in photojournalism in war zones. We miss the action when we are not there (and I never served in the military but from my ER and Fire experience).
No comments:
Post a Comment