A soldier shares his life after combat deployment

The more I read their stories, the more I am amazed with the human spirit of kindness in all of them. They want nothing of us when they tell their stories, except they may motivate us to take care of them, but more, that we take care of the other veterans like them. Inspiring.

A soldier shares his life after combat deployment
Bob Ray Sanders • Fort Worth Star-Telegram • July 30, 2008
It was a lost high-school class ring that eventually put me in touch with Mark Sewell, a 1980 graduate of Union High School in Tulsa, Okla.

The ring had been stolen in a burglary more than 12 years ago when Sewell lived in Wylie near Dallas, and it was found on the streets of Fort Worth about three years ago.

With the help of readers, we finally found the right Mark Sewell in Fredonia, Kan., and during our initial conversation it was clear that the Persian Gulf War veteran was still suffering from his experience in the U.S. Army.

I tried several times to get him to discuss his injuries, but he refused.

"I don't want to talk about it," he told me more than once.

I issued a final plea last week when I told him that I was planning a follow-up column about him getting the ring back.

Last Tuesday, in an e-mail message sent at 12:47 a.m. with "Insomnia as usual" as its subject, Sewell opened up, perhaps more than he has in years.

Here is that message in its entirety, which Sewell said he wrote to help other men and women returning from war.

go here for more http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080730/OPINION05/807300336/1006/OPINION