Posted on Feb 27, 2015

Army Veteran's Guilt Over Surviving Iraq Is a Wound That Won't Heal

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Survivor's Guilt and its effect

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/02/27/army-veterans-guilt-over-surviving-iraq-is-wound-that-wont-heal.html?comp= [login to see] 70&rank=1

I think this is a subject that affects us all, no matter if we were in combat or not. For me, I went to Iraq as an 11B, but ended up in a TOC instead. I saw the reports of young guys getting killed and I looked back and thought. I've lived so much life and this kid was only 19. I remember coming back from Balad to Victory Base and saw a vehicle blown to bits which wasn't there when we went. I made a decision which came within a gnat's ass of getting three guys killed, they were very lucky and I felt that one. We live this and I know mine is very small compared to many others, but I know we all need some support.

Army Veteran's Guilt Over Surviving Iraq Is a Wound That Won't Heal

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Posted 9 y ago

Responses: 4

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad

Edited 9 y ago

Posted 9 y ago

It is very real . . . ask ANY Marine who was on the ground in Beirut, Lebanon on 10/23/1983.

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GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad

9 y

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PO1 Michael Fullmer

9 y

I remember well that day. Lost several close friends on that fateful morning at 0623. I have only been able to visit the memorial once.

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SPC (Join to see)

9 y

My father was in Beirut and he was actually mentioned in the book The Root. I used to bother him a lot about it because I was always curious and for the longest time he would never tell me about his time there but one day he did and that's when I learned what survivor's guilt was. He's older now and doesn't mind talking about it as much but I can still tell his minds goes back to the guys he served with whenever it's brought up. Combat changes people. I hope I can convince him to visit the memorial for it, I think he'd like that.

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