Back from Iraq war, and alone

Back from Iraq war, and alone
By Mike Scotti, Special to CNN
March 10, 2010 2:05 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
When he came back from Iraq, Mike Scotti says, he felt alien in formerly familiar surroundings
Understanding the isolation vets feel is a new challenge the nation must meet, he says
He realized he must apply the good parts of military experience to home life, let go of the bad
With a new movie, he hopes to educate people about what returning veterans face

Editor's note: Mike Scotti served as a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, and is a founding board member of Reserve Aid, a military-themed, nonprofit charity. He is the founder of the Military Veterans Club at the NYU Stern School of Business and is the subject of the documentary film "Severe Clear," which opens in New York on Friday.

New York (CNN) -- A few days after I had returned from a six-month deployment to Iraq, my second sojourn in the Middle East since 2001, I remember feeling like I was an alien creature from some other planet.

It was 2003, and I was attending a friend's wedding. As I sat at the table listening to the conversation, I suddenly realized that someone who had never been in combat could never even remotely understand what I had just been through.

I looked around. The chamber music quartet, the beautiful bridesmaids, the steak dinner ... none of it was real. My buddies were, at that moment, probably on patrol and quite possibly engaged with the enemy. That was real.

And as for the other guests at the table who were staring at me in my dress blues, we were no longer even the same species.
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Back from Iraq war, and alone