Questions & Answers

From an Old Warrior Perspective

This section of the website is for “Direct Input” from Warriors, Families of Warriors, Loved ones of Warriors, and anyone who wants to ask Questions about Warriors. You can ask anything you want about any topic; about killing, survivor guilt, guilt, loss, adapting to society, combat adrenaline, family abuse, substance abuse, suicide, homicide and anything that’s causin pain in your brain-housing-group.

I’m gonna start the ball rolling with a few common questions. You take it from here. This will be a weekly (maybe) chat. But if you need to talk to me sooner, call, write, or email me at any time. My contact intel is all over this website.

One word of caution: I’m not gonna sugar-coat anything or bullshit anyone. We’ve had enough of that already. So you may not like the answers, but they will be the brutal truth.

Now…Let’s Talk!

Question: Why do I have what shrinkers call Psychological Training for Superior Discipline (PTSD)? What Warriors call, Combat Trauma or Combat Stress.
Answer: This ain’t rocket science: You don’t spend every damn day for 12 to 15 months thinkin “I may die this day”; you don’t watch your true Friends get body-bagged or blown apart; you don’t kill other human beings (including women and children) and not feel like you’ve just been spin-kicked in the head. If you have emotions, if you are a human being, then you have definitely been psychologically wounded. That is, you’ve got a round stuck in your chamber and you need to talk about this shit with someone. Another Warrior will do, but better yet, if it’s a qualified combat trauma counselor.

Question: Why does my son, daughter, spouse, or loved one, seem so different after being deployed to a combat zone in Afghanistan and/or Iraq?
Answer: Like it or not, after going to War, your loved one IS NOW a different person. They are normal for what they’ve been through, but rest assured, they have changed…forever. They have experience the horrors of War, maybe been witness to, or participated in atrocities (extreme cruelty). And this shit changes you forever. This is War. So you as a loved one will have to deal with it. You can love your Warrior unconditionally, help them to get help, be patient or like in so many cases, abandon them due to fear, shock and ignorance.

Question: Why do I as a Warrior feel so violated and betrayed?
Answer: You’ve just lost your innocence; you see the world as it truly is now. And, you feel like you just got the Green Weenie. In other words, you clearly see the “Whys” of War, but that doesn’t make it easier to deal with the pains of War. This feeling of being betrayed by your government and society in general, takes a good bit of time and talkin over; to not make you hate everyone and everything. By accepting that “there’s the way it should be, and then there’s the way it is”, helps to control your rage and urge-to-kill anger. But this again is NORMAL. So cut yourself some slack.

Question: Why do I long to return to War, to my unit, my fellow Warriors?
Answer: What Warrior doesn’t? Hell, in War we have True Friends, willing to die for us without hesitation. We feel a sense of self-worth and truly live every moment in the present moment. We suffer and sacrifice for those we love more than life itself and feel cheated when they die and we don’t. This, my Friends is the True Warrior Code of Honor. Of course you want to return to battle with your Friends. That’s because they ARE your Friends and you want to watch over them and protect them. Shrinkers call this survivor guilt. I call it Honor. But we suffer the consequences of living the Code. Our lives may never be the same, but who the hell would ever want to return to who they were before walking off the battlefield? So be proud to be a Warrior and learn to adapt your military skill set to civilian society. It ain’t easy, but it’s doable.

Now that’s a start. Your turn to ask anything!