Bridgeport to Baghdad: Citizen Again
Jeremy Harrison, a sergeant in the 459th experienced post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after returning from Iraq.
By Chip Hitchcock
June 8, 2009 · One West Virginia veteran of the Iraq War struggled to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder, and now helps other veterans live with their memories of war.
On a rainy afternoon five years ago, the 459th Reserve Engineering Company’s buses pulled into the armory in Bridgeport, West Virginia. They were returning from a year in Iraq.
On one bus, a soldier called out, “Welcome Home, Gentlemen! Can I get a Hoo-Ah?”
The other soldiers responded with the Army yell: “Hoo-ah!”
Minutes later they spilled out onto the parking lot, to be embraced by family and friends.
In the years since, that scene has been repeated for almost every West Virginia National Guard and Reserve unit. Afterwards, the soldiers face the challenges of adjusting to home.
Every combat veteran has a different reaction to the trauma of war. Those reactions may dramatically affect their civilian life.
In 2007, a Department of Defense Task Force found that three to four months after returning home, one-third of regular Army soldiers were experiencing mental health issues.
The figure is even higher -- one-half -- for National Guard and Reservists.
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http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=9954
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