Your disability from military service, does it make you regret it?

2015-03-17T11:28:28-04:00

I see and hear about so many disabilities: exposure to Agent Orange, being paralyzed, missing limbs, cancer, asthma, PTSD, anxiety, IBS, inability to handles large crowds, headaches, headaches, bad surgeries, neck pain,...the list goes on. All/only attributed to your military service....

If you could do it again and not have these injuries that disabled you, would you? Or, what would you have done differently?

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 17 at 2015 11:34 AM

2015-03-17T11:34:30-04:00

I chose Other, because I do not have anything severe enough to be considered a major disability. I do have some minor scars, so I could have easily said, I do not regret my service, even with my injuries.

Response by MSgt Jamie Lyons made Mar 17 at 2015 11:38 AM

2015-03-17T11:38:59-04:00

I dont regret serving and for doing the things I have done in service to my country. I just wish I would have prepared my body better for them. As an aircrew member I have done more 'touch-n-goes' than I like to recount, especially in the mighty C-130. Over many landings over my career my spine has taken a toll to the point of 2 rods, 3 cages and six screws fusing them altogether. Was it worth it....heck yah! It was the most fun and terrifying time of my life but I wouldn't change it for anything. But like I said, I would have prepared my body better for it.

Response by PV2 Alaina Norman made Mar 17 at 2015 12:48 PM

2015-03-17T12:48:21-04:00

you know as much as i had my complaining moments and at times wish i was able to experience more than i was able to, i don't regret it. It is who you are and what made you the person you are today.

Response by SSG Rob Cline made Mar 17 at 2015 12:56 PM

2015-03-17T12:56:19-04:00

If I could do it again, I would have prepared myself to avoid the injuries I sustained. Most of mine were just being in the wrong place at the right time.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 17 at 2015 1:14 PM

2015-03-17T13:14:51-04:00

2 weeks after I got married, I was still home on Christmas leave. Wife had to go back to work (also a Marine). She came home, and said "What's wrong with your face?" My response was "Screw you to" because we were both Marines, and I thought she was messing with me. I had been laying on the couch reading, and didn't notice it was sort of slack.

About an hour later, I got up, looked in the bathroom mirror and realized that "half my face wasn't working" and I was slurring my speech. So I called my SSgt, and asked him for the number to medical so I could make an appointment with Sick Call the following morning. He of course asks what's wrong. I tell him, and and 15 minutes later he's at my offbase housing rushing me to the emergency room because he thinks I might have a stroke. Turns out it was "nothing" (Bell's palsy - Right side facial paralysis). Basically a minor nuisance (compared to a stroke) that is "relatively common." The doc's explanation was "sometimes it just happens."

Now, I've also fallen off the side of a mountain, blown out an ankle and have migraines which I take daily pills for. But, it's hard to blame my MOS or the Marines specifically for any of that. Sure they happened when I was in, but I could have just as easily fallen off a roof when I was roofing as a teenager, rolled an ankle on the ice, and likely would have migraines anyways.

Response by SGT Craig Northacker made Mar 17 at 2015 1:27 PM

2015-03-17T13:27:25-04:00

I would do what I did all over - but the difference is as an older veteran and understanding the damage caused to us because of secret programs that used fraud and subterfuge - and the fact that we may have supported questionable activities because that was our mission needs to be addressed honestly and openly by the government and simply complying with the law as it is written.
The lies, deceit and corruption that plagues our programs kills us prematurely, causes our children to be born with special needs and potentially die way too soon. It destroys marriages and families and ultimately our way of life that we signed up to defend.
So, while I would do what I did again - I would prefer to see Agency personnel have full accountability - including the brass that has fabricated dubious policies with fallacious reasoning. Including being charged with manslaughter for their parts in formulating policies that have killed our brothers and sisters way too soon, often after having besieged them with tortuous paths to get the benefits made available under the law.
Anyone want to guess how many of us were killed by Agent Orange or GWI, and how many of our children were born with issues and/or died prematurely?

Response by MAJ Chris Ballard made Mar 17 at 2015 1:29 PM

2015-03-17T13:29:43-04:00

I don't regret it for a second. I got hit by an IED and got my ass blown off - an injury that invariably sparks a joke or at the very least a Forrest Gump impression (I do a pretty good one), but if I had not gotten hit I never would have looked at doing anything else.

I own a very successful business, and I owe my success to being forced to look for a way to earn a living that still left me the time freedom to take care of myself when I needed it. Besides, I got that cool license plate!

Response by COL Charles Williams made Mar 17 at 2015 1:55 PM

2015-03-17T13:55:19-04:00

I wouldn't change a thing.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 17 at 2015 2:06 PM

2015-03-17T14:06:31-04:00

I don't regret anything about my service except I wish I had reenlisted after Nam.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 17 at 2015 2:08 PM

2015-03-17T14:08:32-04:00

I wasn't aware I could have changed my MOS or job. Still, I wouldn't have.

Response by PO1 Stephen Caldonetti made Mar 17 at 2015 2:21 PM

2015-03-17T14:21:38-04:00

I would not change the events that had led up to my injury, but, I had to change rate my rate in order to stay and and I did not. If I could go back, that is what I would change is that I would stay in with a new rate. Rates are the same as MOS in the Navy.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Mar 17 at 2015 2:38 PM

2015-03-17T14:38:00-04:00

My injuries weren't combat related. Of course I wish I could have a mulligan, but that's not how life goes. My regret about it is that I can't return to uniform now and serve as a chaplain on active duty...

Response by PO2 David Wagner made Mar 17 at 2015 3:04 PM

2015-03-17T15:04:50-04:00

I would do it all over again. I signed that blank check to the USA, knowing that I might get injured. It was part of the package. Some were luckier than others, but some never came home. I did. There is nothing more that could I could have hoped for. I am proud to have served my country.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Mar 17 at 2015 4:08 PM

2015-03-17T16:08:43-04:00

Per the question; 'If you could do it again and not have these injuries that disabled you, would you?'

Yes, if I could I would do it again and not have the injuries.

My next answer would have been 'I do not regret my service, even with my injuries.' Of course, I did not have injuries any where like some of our brothers and sisters.

I must admit, when I was going to the neurologist to figure out what was wrong it was going on, it was a LOT of fun to watch her grasp at straws...of course she got me back at the testing she sent me to?

Response by SFC(P) Tobias M. made Mar 17 at 2015 5:09 PM

2015-03-17T17:09:51-04:00

I love the military. I would not be where I am today without the military. Granted I would love to not have the injuries that I have today but would not change it for the world.

Response by SFC Boots Attaway made Mar 18 at 2015 12:21 AM

2015-03-18T00:21:31-04:00

No regrets at all, in fact I would do it all over again.

Response by PV2 Violet Case made Mar 18 at 2015 3:01 AM

2015-03-18T03:01:28-04:00

I would never regret being in the service now. But a few yrs ago when finding out about ft. McClellan my regret was this. How can anyone place people into that kind of enviroment . My regret is that they did this , hid it an then tried to cover it up and sweep us under the rug. And I regret my children and grandchildren all having troubles.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 18 at 2015 9:39 AM

2015-03-18T09:39:22-04:00

I could never regret something that made me a better and stronger individual. I have always been more aware of my surroundings, so the military just helped me learn to function with those "extra" perks.

Response by SPC David Shaffer made Mar 18 at 2015 10:00 AM

2015-03-18T10:00:53-04:00

No regrets here. My STBI has truly made me a better man, husband, and father. The problem is not change but how you deal and adapt. I refuse to be anything but great.

David Shaffer

Response by SSG John Bacon made Mar 18 at 2015 10:30 AM

2015-03-18T10:30:48-04:00

Life is about Choices I chose twice to serve my country and I would not change those choices for anything.

Response by SPC Richard Owens made Mar 18 at 2015 12:03 PM

2015-03-18T12:03:49-04:00

I wouldn't change a thing. I'm proud to have served my country with the sacrifice.

Response by SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT made Mar 18 at 2015 6:39 PM

2015-03-18T18:39:01-04:00

I would never have gone to Fort McClellan, AL for MP school. Had I known the dangerous Toxic exposure in the ground and water systemto numerous pathagins. This has resulted in myself and many others being told "You Have Cancer"

Response by SFC Douglas Davis made Mar 18 at 2015 6:49 PM

2015-03-18T18:49:55-04:00

I would do every single day of my career again to feel the comradery that I felt while on active duty. I have never felt the same in the civilian sector.

Response by MSgt Stephanie McCalister made Mar 18 at 2015 7:16 PM

2015-03-18T19:16:54-04:00

I'll never regret my service, I know what I did was important as part of our Nation's defense forces. I don't like being disabled, there's a lot I can't do, but I absolutely have NO regrets ...

Whether the duty was combat, humanitarian, or support, I was part of a team effort, none of us were irreplaceable, but at any given moment, each of us were exactly where we were needed, doing what was needed, and I wouldn't ever wish to be removed from that equation.

I have the knowledge that my disabilities were part of the sacrifices I signed up knowing could happen, up to & including my life ... 'no greater sacrifice' ... has many shades, look at all the veterans who bear witness to that testament!

I would absolutely do it all again ... without any hesitation. Would I have done anything differently? Maybe listened to my dad and started things out slightly different, but then I might not have had my wonderful children, & I can never regret them! As for my career path, I can't imagine choosing differently than the choices I made along the way.

My kids were very supportive too, my son chose to serve also. I can't help but think the example my dad & I set ... helped my son with his own choices, the same with my daughter in her civilian path, I see more similarities than differences in the choices she makes too :)

I know my Dad was always supportive and proud of me throughout my career & afterwards too. RIP Dad, I miss you.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Mar 19 at 2015 12:45 PM

2015-03-19T12:45:09-04:00

1st of all, according to the VA I'm not disabled, never mind 4 combat deployments, almost a 100 parachute jumps, years of abuse to my body.. Severe stenosis at C5-C6, fractured bones in both feet, legs, left arm, left hand and spine, left patella, over the years, concussed, punctured lung, broken ribs, fingers and eye socket..and those are just the ones that left scars and calcium deposits...
But the VA says pain is not compensatory, only disability..
Anyway to your questions.. Nothing, no change, not one little bit. "I do not regret my service even with my injuries"

Thats easy for me to say, I have reasonably full use of all appendages, vision, mental capacity.. I might feel different if it were otherwise.

Response by SFC Charles S. made Mar 19 at 2015 1:58 PM

2015-03-19T13:58:51-04:00

I served my Country and I regret nothing. My Disability is not something to be hidden it's a badge of my 100% commitment to our Country. To have it to do over... I'd do the same.

Response by SFC Collin McMillion made Mar 27 at 2015 4:33 PM

2015-03-27T16:33:36-04:00

I would return as fast as I could sign the papers and take the oath!!!!

Response by SFC Collin McMillion made Mar 29 at 2015 11:17 AM

2015-03-29T11:17:17-04:00

I could never regret my service, but some of the after effects are not to good.