Courage and Combat PTSD

Courage and Combat PTSD
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
October 21, 2012


During and interview with Union Squared Studio for a promo on my book, FOR THE LOVE OF JACK HIS WAR/MY BATTLE we talked about one of the issues I have with the DOD. These young men and women are getting the wrong message on resiliency and what it actually is.

Being resilient comes after trauma and only comes with the right kind of help.


I have faced death in "normal" life as a civilian many times. For years as I tried to help veterans, I was also searching for that one thing that prevented me from ending up with PTSD. We all know that one event in our lifetime can alter everything, yet after many of them from the time I was 4 until well into my adult life, I made peace with each time.

The answer for making me resilient was talking about it as soon as it happened and not stopping until I was done talking. Stop dying a slow death and start living is the best message I can give and it can be done but first you have to understand "you" and all that comes with you.

I have never been in combat but for all these years of talking to veterans the simple fact that unites every human is the ability to understand yourself especially when abnormal things happen. Soldiers and Marines say that they didn't train right and then they blame themselves for PTSD thinking they were mentally weak. They didn't see how strong they actually were when even with all that pain inside of them, they pushed on, did their duty, risked their lives many more times, until they were all out of danger. That is when they allow themselves to "feel" it.

Listen to what I say in this video and then think about what it was like after the first time you faced something horrible during your deployment. Think about what it felt like during it. Think about how much pain you were in but then remind yourself that even if you wondered and worried about your own life, you worried about the men you were with.

That's one of the parts most of you forget about. PTSD didn't happen to you because you are "mentally weak" but because your courage and compassion made you care enough to act. That is not weakness. That, that comes from strength of character.