(From the Denver Post)
After serving four years as a reconnaissance man and deploying twice to Iraq, Brian Scott Ostrom, 27, returned home to the U.S. with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder. “The most important part of my life already happened. The most devastating. The chance to come home in a box. Nothing is ever going to compare to what I’ve done, so I’m struggling to be at peace with that,” Scott said. He attributes his PTSD to his second deployment to Iraq, where he served seven months in Fallujah with the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. “It was the most brutal time of my life,” he said. “I didn’t realize it because I was living it. It was a part of me.” Since his discharge, Scott has struggled with daily life, from finding and keeping employment to maintaining healthy relationships. But most of all, he’s struggled to overcome his brutal and haunting memories of Iraq. Nearly five years later, Scott remains conflicted by the war. Though he is proud of his service and cares greatly for his fellow Marines, he still carries guilt for things he did — and didn’t do — fighting a war he no longer believes in.
(Click through for a moving pictorial of how Scott has dealt with being back in the States. This feature captures, far better than most, what too many of our returning vets have experienced upon being discharged from the service and coming home. Funding is improving, and programs like Wounded Warrior are great resources for these soldiers, but we need more money and programs, faster system response and better treatment options.)
Read and see the entire piece here...
Source:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2012/01/05/captured-welcome-home-the-story-of-scott-ostrom/5172/
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