The wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq cost our country dearly in both lives and money and a lot
of people just want to forget about it and move on.
Easier said
than done, especially for those who served when our nation needed them most.
"A lot of
us made that choice to stand up for our country and do what obviously needed to
be done," said Christopher Bennett, a former U.S. marine.
October 7,
2001, less than a month after the 9-11 attacks, the first U.S. warplanes struck
Al Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Afghanistan.
CIA teams and
U.S. ground troops soon followed.
So did marines
like Christopher Bennett, who signed up on September 12, 2001.
"I joined
the day after September 11th...September 12th I went down to the recruiting
office and signed up," said Bennett.
But now, 11
years to the day, U.S. and NATO troops are still fighting and dying in
Afghanistan.
80,000 U.S.
troops remain in harms way.
"I
deployed in 2005," said Bennett.
Bennett, like
thousands of others who signed up after 9-11, ended up not in Afghanistan, but
in Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein and seize his weapons of mass destruction.
They got
Saddam but the weapons were never found. Still, the fighting was fierce.
Bennett found
himself in one of the war's deadliest places for American GI's and marines,
Ramadi.
Deep inside
the Sunni triangle, marines deployed to Ramadi didn't have long to acclimate
themselves.
"I think
my first experience was 30 minutes in country," said Bennett.
He wasn't
hurt, even after two tours.
"I lost
some good friends over there," said Bennett.
The scars were
more emotional.
"My scars
are obviously internally, other people suffered more than me," said
Bennett.
But
Christopher Bennett returned years later a changed man.
"Obviously
going through that, seeing that--experiences shake anybody up," said
Bennett.
The number of
vets returning to the United States with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
is skyrocketing.
Chris is one
of them.
"When I
got back from my last tour I ran into some issues. I was very self
destructive," said Bennett. "I was having difficulties with anxiety,
sleeping, restlessness, anger; I didn't know what was going on with
me."
Chris returned
to his home in Michigan, to a wife and two children who didn't know him, and a
military that no longer wanted him.
"I got
diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and almost immediately after that
I was released from the military," said Bennett.
No one in his
family could understand what was happening to Chris.
The result was
a family which could no longer support him and a divorce.
"I
literally destroyed almost everything I worked for," said Bennett.
Chris moved to
Arizona to attempt a fresh start.
Now a single
parent, he sought out treatment and he met his new wife.
"You
start finding that cure and to me, that cure was my family," said Bennett.
"My relationship with my wife is clear, my relationship with my kids has
skyrocketed."
"Many of
these individuals who return come back with tremendous anxiety and PTSD,"
said Dr. John Mather, a neuropsychologist.
Eventually,
Chris met Dr. John Mather, who is not Chris's doctor, but a friend who has helped
many PTSD victims.
"These
individuals, our soldiers, our heroes, are returning different people than when
they left," said Mather.
Dr. Mather is
aiding Chris another way, by helping the former marine reach out to other vets
with PTSD.
"I am
founding a non-profit organization--calling it Families and Soldiers Together,
FAST," said Bennett.
"His
taking up this cause has been incredibly therapeutic for him," said
Mather.
They have a
plan: to help vets in need discover how important family can be.
"You are
going to have bad days and are they ready to have those bad days with you,
because they have to, or you are going to be having those bad days alone,"
said Bennett.
But the fight
goes on and more and more vets will return to a country that's tired of
war.
"I think
people are so exhausted with the negativity of the war," said
Bennett.
But to stop
the epidemic of post-traumatic stress, it will take more vets like Chris to
step out of the shadows, because no one is going to step out for them.
"The war
has touched everybody so it really is a community based effort to help get
these veterans out there to help them," said Bennett. "Say 'Hey,
let's do this together'; this is a way for spouses and the children to say
'Dad, Mom, please, we'll go through it with you."
Bennett hopes
to launch his service for vets in November with counseling and legal services,
and a full slate of family activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment