Warrior Stories

"I went into the Army right after high school in ‘98. Military service is kind of a family tradition and something I always wanted to do. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks split my career in half. Post-9/11 was a lot of deployment time. I was a psychological operations tactical team leader and took part in the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003. In the 14 months we were in... Read More

"I didn’t have family in the military. It was just something I knew I was going to do since I was in the second grade. It was during the Cold War and I used to make little drawings of the U.S. against Russia and I always saw us winning and coming out on top. "I joined the U.S. Marine Corps when I was 22. I served four years as an infantryman and spent six months in... Read More

“I always wanted to join the Army. I come from a big military family: my grandfather, uncles, two brothers all served. My younger brother was a Marine who passed away while serving. He looked up to us, and joined not too long after I did. I spent seven years in the Army. I was in Iraq from 2010 to 2011. “I have PTSD, which causes a lot of panic attacks and anxiety. I... Read More

"My post-traumatic stress comes from something other than war. It is the result of the actions of someone else in uniform. For years, I kept what happened really close. I drank and was numb for a long time. I was in pure survival mode. I had nightmares and flashbacks. I was to the point of disassociating pretty frequently and losing gaps of time. I would have to immensely... Read More

"I wanted to serve in the military. I decided to join the Navy, because that’s where my grandfather served during the Space Race. He died when I was 13, so I never really got a chance to ask him much about his service. But he and I were close, and I emulated everything he did. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks really confirmed my decision to go into the Navy. "I served... Read More

"I wanted to join the Army when I was a little boy. My parents were very involved in the American Legion, and I always looked up to the men and women in uniform. I served from 2002 to 2007 as an infantryman and deployed twice to Iraq. Ten months into my second 12-month tour, I was shot by a sniper in the face and lost my right eye. Luckily, he was a little off on his... Read More

“My grandfather was a World War II Veteran. He always told me, ‘If you don’t want to go to college, join the Navy. They’ll feed you three meals a day, put clothes on your back, provide a place to sleep and teach you a trade that will take you far in life.’ I took his advice. I joined the Navy on Sept. 5, 2000. It was great. The military was like family. "I was... Read More