Years ago, I met a fellow veteran at a promotion event for one of my novels. The man suffered from traumatic brain injury, sustained in an improvised explosive device attack on his vehicle during his deployment to Iraq. Due to his injury, he wore one of those soft helmets, and he misunderstood basic social cues. I pitied him and thought of how close I’d come to a similar fate.
With the Army in Afghanistan in 2005, I was manning the turret behind the Mk-19 grenade-launching machine gun, with my top half sticking out of the Humvee and my back resting against the upright, locked-open turret hatch lid.
One mission took us off the dirt road into a poppy field, trying to keep rolling on dry land
Trending: Reporter: “I’m living proof that you can recover form TDS”
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!