Can you describe how you felt coming home from a deployment or combat?

I felt ecstatic! but anxious at the same time, depression set in after a few months because of all that I've seen and experienced, this was back in '06 when Bush was in office. i served from '04 -'06 (OIF) and so that was the beginning stages of OIF/OEF. I was nervous and my family were nervous for me. I was grateful to come home with no shame or guilt on how I was discharged. Yahweh guided me home.

Three tours in Vietnam. First was in 65/66 with the 10th Aviation Battalion. Came home to a very ugly anti Vietnam society. My Aunt (Mother's Brother's wife) refused to talk to me - called me a Baby Killer. It was a very depressing welcome home! Soon after returning home, I departed on my second tour (196th Light Infantry Brigade). Coming home in late 1967 was no better - perhaps worse because the anti Vietnam sentiment was sweeping the country. Third tour was with the 5th Special Forces in 69/70. Upon return, I experienced the same reception as the first two tours. By this time, I had grown to expect nothing and was not disappointed! I learned from my first two tour not to travel or be seen in uniform! To many anti Vietnam protesters were waiting for a servicemen to vent their frustrations on!

So, this is a tough one, because there's a lot of pieces, and so much depends on individual experiences. For me, there were two things that were just incredibly difficult to deal with. First was that everyone would ask me about "what was it like?". Problem was none of them could begin to understand it. Not their fault, they just had to frame of reference, no comparable experience to relate it to. So, at first I would try to tell them about it, but generally after a few minutes, they would start to kind of glaze over and lose the thread. The worst example was right after I got back and went out with some friends. I was talking about some of the just terrible things we saw, really trying to make them understand, and when I finished one of them looks at me and says "Man, what a buzz kill!". I pretty much quit trying after that.

The other piece, which is related and probably worse in some ways, is what I call the "temporal disconnect." Basically, when you deploy, it's almost like you died for most of your friends and family. You're gone for a year (give or take), and even with email and the occasional phone call, you're still out of the picture. For them, life continues. They go to work, go out, meet new people, have new experiences, etc. etc. etc. Meanwhile, for you, life has just stopped. I mean, you're deployed somewhere doing your mission, trying not to get killed, taking care of your people, etc., but your "home life" came to a halt the moment you left. So, you spend your year just thinking how awesome it's going to be when you get home. You're going to see your friends, go out, party, whatever, and it's going to be great! Then reality hits. You get home and all your friends and acquaintances have moved on. They have new friends or significant others that you've never met. They have new shared experiences that you're not a part of. They have a whole year of experiences that you don't. And while you've been thinking of all the time you can spend hanging out, they have lives and don't have the time you thought they would. Plus, you're a different person in many ways. You call and they're busy. You go out, and they're talking about things you aren't a part of. You feel left out, left behind. And you resent it. You deserve better. You've spent a year risking your frigging LIFE to defend them, and they just don't seem to understand or care. It can be even worse if you have young kids (mine was 2 on my first deployment). You've missed everything, and they may not even remember who you are! Not sure if this sounds familiar to anyone else, but that was my experience.

Coming home to see my girl friend and family again. Watching the protesters calling us baby killers and knowing that I was. The VA saved my life when they treated me for 100% PTSD.I am lucky to be here today.

I felt a sense of satisfaction that I had just completed one of the toughest things I had ever done in my life. Also had college, via the Post 911 GI Bill, to look forward to soon after i got back. My entire extended family met me at the airport terminal in my home town when I came home on leave soon after arriving in the US, which was pretty cool.

Ironically, everytime my spouse and I got into a squabble the Army sent me out on maneuvers. After having been in the field, I was welcomed home as if we were on a second honeymoon. We couldn't even remember why we'd been fighting before I left.

Returning home from my very first deployment (Desert Storm), I had very mixed feelings and much uncertainty about how I would fit in and function as a husband and a father after being away for 7 months. My wife and I had only been married for 4 months when I left, and we had a 3 month old daughter. When I returned home, our daughter didn't know me and wanted nothing to do with me for several days. It hurt my heart to be rejected. The more difficult part was trying to figure out how to reengage with my wife and do my part after her having to do for herself for so long. They learn how to get along without us. It's just a very difficult situation, for which there was not much training or preparation for at the time. But I'm happy to say that we were able to work through it, and we have been happily married for 31 years.

I felt betrayed. It was early 2004 and no one was paying any attention to the 2 wars, because most of them didn’t feel they had any connection or skin in the game. I was, and I remain, angry at people’s apathy and ignorance, and in favor of a draft and/or mandatory service of some sort (not necessarily military) for all. People seem happy to allow a war that they don’t bear the cost of.

It was certainly great coming home to the land of the round door knobs. It was all so great that all the signage was in my native language. Best of all was that I could drive to see my family instead of having to fly.

The military does a great job teaching you how to put a uniform on (and all the things that go along with it). However they suck about telling you how to take it off. I remember obviously being glad to be home. Seeing my kids, my family, friends, the lack of the stressors of being in harms way. However, the simplicity of life in combat was missed. The enemy was clear over there, anyone not in "our uniform" was suspect. Meals were made, served and free. There was always a mission. The pay checks were steady. And you were most likely surrounded by "family". After coming home, though I loved the time with my kids, some of "my family" was still living in the sand box. The mission at home was much less clear. Meals now depended on me. Pay checks were not as easy to come by. The mind often wandered. I do have to admit, beer tasted way better when I got back!