Some soldiers face a different kind of battle

Coming home: Some soldiers face a different kind of battle
Wareham Week
By Caitlin Russell
Nov 04, 2013

Courtesy of: Rob Gerard Rob Gerard and his daughter Lily the day the got home from Afghanistan.

Veteran's Day is right around the corner, and with an ongoing war overseas that has dragged on for more than a decade, a new generation of veterans has emerged.

Rob Gerard grew up in Wareham, and served from August 2009 to September 2012 in the Army's 2-327 No Slack Infantry Regiment. He spent a year serving overseas in Afghanistan about 1 1/2 miles from the Pakistani border.

Gerard says that given the opportunity he would definitely do it again, but the experience did not leave him without any unsavory souvenirs.

"I got PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Living with that's kind of tough but I'd still do it over again," he says. "I'm definitely different than I was before. More angry."

Watching people die around him and being sent out to kill others had a profound effect on him. He watched his squad leader die, along with many of the men he trained with. The same men who went through the same training as he did were gone, and he was acutely aware of the fact that his life could be taken just as easily.

As dangerous as life overseas was, it just as complicated now. How does one adjust to living some place where they're not constantly worried about getting killed?

One of the hardest parts about coming back from war is the disconnect between civilian life and military life.

"It's hard to come back and talk to people who don't understand," he says. "I didn't understand what it would be like until it happened."
read more here