It has been said that the only warriors who do not suffer after combat are those who were killed. I cannot attest to that for all battle tested warriors but I certainly can for one—me. Some years ago a young, 13 year old eighth grade student from the Fairfield, Iowa Middle School once asked me, ‘Were you wounded in the war?
I had been invited to speak in Mrs. Broz’s class for many years to talk about my wartime experiences. I had been asked and answered many questions but this one was different. I paused, thought deeply and quickly, and replied.
’Yes I was wounded, seriously wounded but not a wound that anyone could see and fix.’ His question gave me pause to quickly think about warriors in all the wars that have been fought, including mine, whose wounds were unseen, untreated and debilitating even though no blood was shed.
I spent a sleepless night wondering if my answer had satisfied him…or me. What was there about my military service that left me so hopeless and so helpless when I returned home to civilian life? Was it me? The military itself? The combat? This is what I recalled; perhaps the answers would come as I wrote my experiences down.
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