Captain Shannon Meehan is back on foot patrol

"Captain Shannon Meehan is back on foot patrol" running for office to serve yet again, but I wonder if he really understands just how much he has already done beyond his military service, beyond writing the book and beyond what he wants to do in elected office? He is serving the veterans with PTSD proving there is nothing to be ashamed of, nothing that would come close to ending their careers if they get help and stands as an example they are not victims of PTSD but survivors of traumatic events during combat.

CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to The Most News In The Morning.

You know, after coming home from work it can be hard for many soldiers to adjust back to, quote, "normal life again," especially when they're dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder.

ACOSTA: Yes that was the case for army captain Shannon Meehan. He's moved on from his army life but still wants to serve his country. He also talked exclusively with our Barbara Starr and she joins us now with an "AM Original."

And, Barbara, this is a great story.

STARR: It really is. This is a young man like so many veteran whose are struggling on the road back home. We visited with him just a couple of days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): In this Philadelphia neighborhood, one time army captain Shannon Meehan is back on foot patrol. Walking the street, knocking on doors, talking to people.

SHANNON MEEHAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA STATE HOUSE CANDIDATE: I grew up in this area around here, just recently retired from Iraq. As a continuation of my service I'm running as state representative for my area.

STARR: Three years ago in Iraq, Shannon's job as an army platoon commander was to try to win over the citizens. As he launches his campaign for state legislature, he's open about his experiences in war.

MEEHAN: By painting an honest picture of myself because I will be honest, I will show you who I am and who I've become. I always felt that I benefitted --

STARR: I first met Shannon last year at Ft. Hood, Texas, where he was being treated for traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress.

(on camera): You have written extensively about the incident that has caused you to suffer from posttraumatic stress. I'm wondering how that's going for you now.

MEEHAN: Ever since that day back in Iran in June when I took the lives inadvertently of innocent Iraqi family, I've been forever changed. And their deaths, the memories of those children and that family, you know, they will follow me. They always will.

STARR (voice-over): When he was in Iraq, Shannon had called in a strike on a building no one knew Iraqi civilians were there. He felt deeply responsible.

(on camera): You and I hadn't talked in, I'd say, a few months, and then you suddenly e-mailed me a few weeks ago late one night.

(voice-over): I asked him to read some of what he sent me.

MEEHAN: It almost feels as if the further I got from Iraq, from the army, the more my mind would delve itself into it all. Now being completely ripped away from it all by being medically retired, part of me feels that signified the end. The end of it all for me.

I'd finally abandoned them all, the ones we lost and the ones I killed. I felt like I had this disease inside me, this dark secret that if anyone back home had known that what I had done, there's no way that they could accept me. I would be seen as this monster.

STARR: Shannon says he finally began to see the way ahead with the birth of his son Brady and the support of his wife A.J.

MEEHAN: What I was able to realize is that I'm not done yet. My service does not have to end there. I can continue, and I will continue to serve. My name is Shannon Man.

STARR: Back in the neighborhood Shannon hopes by campaigning for votes he will also find his own way ahead.

MEEHAN: For me it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to tell the people of the district who I am and why I want to do this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Really unflinching, this 27-year-old young man out in public, really risking it all by telling people what his war experiences were like. And we are seeing more of that these days. He's just one window into the tens thousands that are literally struggling on the way back home.

CHETRY: It's interesting. You pointed it out in the next half hour. This is the next generation of our new lawmakers.

ACOSTA: The new John Kerrys, the new John McCains. And when I think we've got so many challenges in this country right now, when I see Shannon Meehan going door to door running for state legislature, I think we're going to be OK.

STARR: One of many veterans still trying to find a way to make a contribution.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/05/ltm.03.html