Memorial Day is the day we honor and remember those who lost their lives in battle, fighting for our freedoms.
It takes a special kind of person to join the military knowing you could be deployed into the middle of a war or peace keeping mission that has lost its peace. Knowing you could be killed or have to kill. Also knowing you are protecting a very diversified country filled with different cultures, races, religions, politics etc. Some aren’t even here legally. But these soldiers don’t care. They are fighting for ALL.
But there’s another group of soldiers we need to remember. They didn’t die in a war, but they were forever changed while fighting in one. They survived while seeing horrific things, doing things they never thought they would have to do, they would suffer trauma and injury and then be discharged.
A lot of these soldiers will go on to deal with PTSD, Panic attacks, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Often medication and therapy are unhelpful. The divorce rate is high, family not able to help, self-medication and addiction takes over, homelessness and the list goes on. Eventually a lot of these soldiers will take their own lives or die from complications lasting from injuries during their war.
We need to remember these men and women too. They absolutely gave their all. They just lived liked ghosts till their actual death.
My brother suffered PTSD, trauma, lung and heart issues. He died at 49.
So when you see those VETs coming out of an AA meeting, sleeping on a park bench, coming out of rehab for the millionth time, remember they fought a war that stole their life but left them living a ghost life. Make sure to enjoy your freedoms and don’t take them for granted. And the flag, it’s not just material on a pole. It represents All of us. The good, the bad and the ignorant.
