PTSD can affect all veterans in one way or another

East Texas Heroes: Bobby Rutherford
EAST TEXAS (KYTX) -- From the workplace to the classroom to home, PTSD can affect us all in one way or another. But none more so than East Texas heroes, like Bobby Rutherford.

She's the apple of his eye and his wife is the love of his life.

"I just hope to have a healthy family," Bobby said. "There's really nothing else I can ask for."

But it's a family Bobby didn't have until he finished two tours in Iraq. He said he wishes they could have known the man he was before combat.

In Balad, Bobby and his team, called a Bradley Unit, intervened in Sunni and Shiite Muslim battles.

From improvised explosive devices to fire fights, Bobby saw it all.

"They were always bombing each other and kidnapping each others kids," he said. "I think my Bradley took 13 or 14 IED's. There were times when I'd think, 'am I going to get back from patrol? Please just let me get back from this one raid without getting hit.'"

The post traumatic stress disorder brought on by the stress of combat changed Bobby.

"Before I was deployed, I was an easy going guy," he said.

These days he's jumpy.

"Anyone dropping a book or something falling over -- it scares you a lot," he said. "My temper can get the best of me, it can get the best of me sometimes but I hate it."

Bobby, like others with PTSD, worry how that could affect the relationships they fought for in the blazing Iraqi desert; the bonds of love they now live for.

"My mission now is to keep providing for my family as best I can," he said.

Toni Dowdy, with ETMC, counsels people with PTSD.

"It's to make them feel safe back in the world again," she said. "To help them adjust."
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