Tag Archives: suicide prevention

Suicide Numbers Regress for First Time Since 2007

Posted on January 20, 2012 by CJ| 2 Comments


1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment was split across three distinctly different areas of operation. Charlie Company was in Marjah, reinforcing Marine and Afghan forces operating in the city’s remaining troubled regions. Alpha Company was in Sangin District, where they supported the 3rd and later, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. During Operation Eastern Storm, Headquarters, Bravo and Weapons companies secured route 611, which runs through Kajaki Sofla, an area that had long been a safe haven for insurgent sub-commanders and for arms and drug trafficking.

The Army released suicide data today for the month of December and calendar year (CY) 2011. During December, among active-duty soldiers, there were 11 potential suicides: two have been confirmed as suicide, and nine remain under investigation. For November, the Army reported seven potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, five have been confirmed as a suicide, and two remain under investigation. For CY 2011 there were 164 potential active-duty suicides of which 140 have been confirmed as suicides, and 24 remain under investigation.

During December, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were five potential suicides (four Army National Guard and one Army Reserve): three have been confirmed as suicide and two remain under investigation. For November, among that same group, there were eight potential suicides. Since the release of that report, three cases have been added for a total of 11 cases (11 Army National Guard and no Army Reserve). Of those, nine were confirmed as suicides and two remain under investigation. For CY 2011, there were 114 potential not on active duty suicides (80 National Guard and 34 Army Reserve): 102 have been confirmed as suicide, and 12 remain under investigation.

A report released today, “Army 2020 Generating the Health and Discipline of the Force,” referred to as the “Army Gold Book,” represents the next phase in Army health and disciplinary promotion efforts. The report assesses progress made, as well as identifies and addresses remaining gaps in policy, programs and procedures relating to soldier health and discipline since the release of the “Army Red Book” in July 2010. It also underscores the importance of ongoing leader education, tireless commitment and open communication at all levels in assuring that the right choices continue to be made for our soldiers, the Army and our nation.

“As we look ahead to the strategic reset, transitioning from a predominantly wartime Army to a ready and responsive one, leaders at every level must be actively engaged. They must understand the issues addressed in this report, apply the many lessons learned and, unlike the mostly reactive efforts of the post-Vietnam Army, continue to take a proactive approach to generating health and discipline in the force.

“This report should serve as a comprehensive guide, a roadmap of sorts reflecting not only how far we have come in recent years, but more importantly, provide direction as we look ahead to the strategic reset and the many challenges we will inevitably face as we come back home,” according to the “Gold Book.”

Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Trained consultants are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and can be contacted by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or by visiting their website at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Army leaders can access current health promotion guidance in newly revised Army Regulation 600-63 (Health Promotion) at: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_63.pdf and Army Pamphlet 600-24 (Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention) at http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p600_24.pdf.

The Army’s comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at http://www.preventsuicide.army.mil.

Suicide prevention training resources for Army families can be accessed at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/training_sub.asp?sub_cat=20 (requires Army Knowledge Online access to download materials).

Information about Military OneSource is located at http://www.militaryonesource.com or by dialing the toll-free number 1-800-342-9647for those residing in the continental United States. Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource website for dialing instructions for their specific location.

Information about the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is located at http://www.army.mil/csf/.

The Defense Center for Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) Outreach Center can be contacted at 1-866-966-1020, via electronic mail at Resources@DCoEOutreach.org and at http://www.dcoe.health.mil.

The website for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is http://www.afsp.org/, and the Suicide Prevention Resource Council site is found at http://www.sprc.org/index.asp.

While this post contains official military information, it is not meant to be representative of the Army, the Department of Defense, The United States Government, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, III Corps, the 101st Airborne Division, the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, the 511th MI Company, the School of the Americas, ISAF, RC(S), RC(E), RC(N), RC(W), CENTCOM, TRADOC, FORSCOM, Recruiting Command, The United States Marine Corps, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, The United States Coast Guard, The Boy Scouts of America, the Department of Education, or any other unit, department, office, Section, squad, platoon, company battalion, brigade, division, Corps, any branch of service, rank, MOS, or any other segment of official military or government, real or imagined.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Military Life, Military News

Tagged , ,

Army Releases Suicide Statistics

Posted on December 20, 2011 by CJ| 1 Comment

There is simply no reason why anyone should take their own life. No problem in this world is so bad that it’s worth your life. I like to call it a “temporary pain.” One suicide is two too many! Please read through this and help your battle buddy. I’ll be including a bunch of links at the end for both those suffering and those worried about their troop.

The Army released suicide data today for the month of November. Among active-duty soldiers, there were seven potential suicides: none have been confirmed as suicide and seven remain under investigation. For October 2011, the Army reported 17 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, four cases have been confirmed as suicide and 13 cases remain under investigation.

During November 2011, among Reserve Component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were eight potential suicides (eight Army National Guard and no Army Reserve): two have been confirmed as suicide and six remain under investigation. For October 2011, the Army reported 12 potential suicides among not-on-active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, one case has been added for a total of 13 cases (five Army National Guard and eight Army Reserve). Four cases have been confirmed as suicide and nine cases remain under investigation.

As of Nov. 30, 2011, the Army has identified 260 potential soldier suicides for CY 2011. Of that total, 154 were active duty suicides: 100 have been confirmed as suicide and 54 remain under investigation; 106 were Reserve Component not on active duty suicides (73 Army National Guard and 33 Army Reserve): 84 have been confirmed as suicide and 22 remain under investigation. Compared to previous years, the Army had 305 in CY 2010 (159 active-duty and 146 not-on-active-duty) and 242 in CY 2009 (162 active-duty and 80 not-on-active-duty).

“Suicide continues to be a challenge for our Army Family,” said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III. “It is a devastating loss when one of our own, whether soldier, civilian or family member, dies by suicide.”Chandler also said that overcoming this challenge will take the Army’s collective efforts, dedication, support and understanding. “To that end, I am calling on all of our leaders, but especially the noncommissioned officers, the backbone of our great Army, to make a difference. We must cultivate a climate that encourages help-seeking behaviors and supports those who ask for help,” said Chandler. “By standing shoulder to shoulder, we can ensure that no one stands alone!”

Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.Trained consultants are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and can be contacted by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or by visiting their website at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Army leaders can access current health promotion guidance in newly revised Army Regulation 600-63 (Health Promotion) at: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_63.pdf and Army Pamphlet 600-24 (Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention) at http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p600_24.pdf.

The Army’s comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at http://www.preventsuicide.army.mil.

Suicide prevention training resources for Army families can be accessed at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/training_sub.asp?sub_cat=20 (requires Army Knowledge Online access to download materials).

Information about Military OneSource is located at http://www.militaryonesource.com or by dialing the toll-free number 1-800-342-9647 for those residing in the continental United States. Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource website for dialing instructions for their specific location.

Information about the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is located at http://www.army.mil/csf.

The Defense Center for Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) Outreach Center can be contacted at 1-866-966-1020, via electronic mail at Resources@DCoEOutreach.org and at http://www.dcoe.health.mil.

The website for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is http://www.afsp.org, and the Suicide Prevention Resource Council site is found at http://www.sprc.org/index.asp.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Military Life, Military News

Tagged ,

WND Fort Hood Piece Inaccurate

Posted on October 6, 2010 by CJ| 1 Comment

Blackfive posted a story last week that linked to a World Net Daily piece titled “Fort Hood soldiers told to list private weapons.” This piece is completely inaccurate.

The story quotes “a Soldier” who reported that he and other Soldiers were placed on a watchlist. I would offer that this Soldier’s testimony is most likely pure conjecture and speculation. I want to put out the truth of what is happening on Fort Hood and why, keeping in mind that this is MY personal opinion based on experience here at Fort Hood.

Two weekends ago, the Army as a whole lost five Soldiers to suicide, four of which were at Ft. Hood. This is a disturbing trend that brought the total number of Ft. Hood suicides to a record14 for the year (with an additional six unconfirmed). Naturally, leaders are concerned about these statistics and scrambling to figure out the hows and whys of what is happening.

Senior leaders visited the homes of our troops to gauge their living environment and identify any potential factors that add stress to normal military life. Is the Soldier having financial issues? Does he/she live in a high crime or loud neighborhood? Does the Soldier have adequate transportation? Enough food? Able to wash clothes? Etc. One Senior NCO discovered while visiting a Soldier’s home that he was washing his clothes in a bucket because he didn’t have a functional washing machine. That NCO then gave the Soldier a spare washing machine he wasn’t using. That is taking care of Soldiers.

In gauging stresses, one needs to also evaluate risks. If a Soldier is suffering from the normal Army stress of daily business, comes home to a bunch of bills he cannot pay and a neighborhood that has nothing better to do than party all night, it stands to reason that the Soldier may be a higher risk for depression, anger, and/or suicidal tendencies. If that Soldier also has weapons in the home, the ability to harm oneself is increases the risk. As leaders, we need to know those things.

The only requirement we had with respect to weapons was merely to find out if our Soldiers possessed them, whether on or off post. There was no requirement to ask how many, what type, location, or serial number. We only needed a simple yes or no answer to the question, “do you own guns?”

I would be an idiot if I said that this intent was uniformly interpreted at every level of command. No doubt, there are some lower level leaders that took this directive a few steps too far and did demand more specific information that I believe is outside the scope of their authority. I personally believe it is none of the Army’s business what kinds of guns I own, how many, or where they’re kept. Obviously, the Army wants its Soldiers to do things legally and stresses that we should at least follow local laws for possessing and storing weapons if living off post.

Suicide prevention is a driving factor in many decisions being made locally. We are doing everything we can to figure out the causes and try to stem any future such events. To those ends, some leaders get overzealous in their efforts and infringe on Soldiers’ individual rights guaranteed under the constitution they swore to serve. Contrary to some beliefs, we didn’t surrender those when we put on this uniform.

The Army is not infringing on anyone’s right to own weapons and any “watchlist” created is NOT a postwide directive. At least not that I have seen and I serve in a directly subordinate to III Corps, so I don’t have all those filters of intent.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Military Life, Military News

Tagged , ,

PTSD Treatment: We’re Not Quite There

Posted on May 23, 2010 by CJ| 13 Comments

Almost exactly two weeks ago, I found myself in the fetal position at the foot of my bed crying my eyes out. It was culmination of many stressors that threw me over the edge and caused to seriously think about taking my own life. Thankfully, I had great friends I could turn to. I sent an email to one friend as sort of a last ditch cry for help, thinking in my mind it was futile due to the late hour. As fate (or God) would have it, I got an almost instant response to call someone quick. I did just that.

Looking back, it’s easy to see where I went wrong, but it doesn’t make the result less frightening. One of my Soldiers lost his entire family and I took that hard. Both my grandparents died within a week of each other at the same time. There was a lot of self-induced work stress trying to get up to speed on a new job. Writing. Radio Show. Family. Lack of sleep. Pain. Nightmares. Trying to get the house rented or sold. Lawsuit against the school. Household goods delivery. Getting the new house ready. And the straw that broke my spirit – I ran out of my medications.

I work on West Fort Hood and we only have a small – but great – clinic over there. When I first was about to run out of my anti-depressants, I went to the clinic to get a refill. Unfortunately, they can’t do transfers at the West Fort Hood (Apache) Clinic from other duty stations and I was referred to the hospital on main post. It’s such an inconvenience to go to main post. I either have to miss work or spend my entire lunch fighting lines and traffic getting over there. One day turned into the next and before I knew it a week had gone by without taking my medications – along with everything else happening. An argument with the love of my life threw me into an out of control tailspin. I’ve never been so deep and desperate. For the first time in my life, I thought seriously about ending it.

My saving grace was my very strong belief that suicide is pointless, weak, and stupid. I’ve said it numerous times that there is nothing in this life we can’t handle; Nothing worth taking our life over, and I believe that. And while I personally don’t find a lot of worth in myself, I know that there are people out there who do find me a worthy person. People rely on me, love me, and want to help me. The same goes for every one of you. There are people that rely on you, love and want to help you, regardless of what you think. It’s difficult to describe exactly where my head was that night. Looking back, I’m honestly baffled at how I got there. It doesn’t seem like me.

This past week, I had the privilege to sit in on a bloggers roundtable on “Signs, Symptoms, and Treatments of Psychological Health Concerns”. On that roundtable, was a Soldier named SSG Meg Krause. She is a combat medic with the United States Army Reserves, did five years of active duty from 2002 to 2006 and returned from Iraq, in 2006, thinking that she was going to be just fine.

Like most Soldiers, she just figured that a few nightmares or flashbacks here or there were normal, and did her best “to cope and avoid triggers I knew bothered me such as movies or crowds and things like that”.

It’s a common problem what we need to address, but the problem is that there are still people in the military that don’t quite understand what they’re dealing with. Big Army gets it. Most leaders understand that PTSD is real. What many leaders get wrong is dealing with it.

When Soldiers are feeling suicidal and have the good sense to reach out for help, leaders have to understand that they may NOT be the ones they reach out to. Commands need to adjust their SOPs to account for this. Some leaders think that if a Soldier doesn’t call his squad leader or section leader at such a time of crisis first, the problem rests either with the Soldier or the leader. They will say that a good leader would have such a great and wonderful relationship with his troops that they would call them first when contemplating suicide or any other personal problem. It just doesn’t work that way.

When I found myself balled up on the floor of my room wondering if this was my last night on earth, the last person I was thinking about was someone in my chain of command. It’s not because I don’t trust them or get along with them. It’s just the way it is. I have a GREAT relationship with my supervisor, my Sergeant Major, and my battle buddy, a fellow Master Sergeant. But, the first people that came to my mind when I needed it the most was my wife, my mother, and Wendy. Those are the people I reached out to and I didn’t inform my chain of command until the next day.

The problem lies, I think, in the “serious incident report” (SIR) timelines. In most cases, the timeline kicks in with the event. So, technically, my command was hours behind because they didn’t find out about the event until nearly 6 hours later. If your SIR reporting procedures call for a report submission of incident plus one or two hours, you’re already behind and people get more stressed and frustrated when they are questioned about the lateness of the report. This doesn’t make sense in my case or many others. It’s understood that chains of command need to be informed, but to that Soldier the most important thing in his/her mind is survival – not an SIR reporting timeline.

By the time I had finished talking with those three people, I was so exhausted, I just wanted sleep. My wife wouldn’t let me hang up that phone until she was absolutely confident I was going to make it through the night. I definitely wasn’t in the mood to answer a bunch of questions so that a formal report could be filed. The success is in the fact that my training worked and I called someone – anyone – when I needed it. THAT is what is important – not an SIR. And because I have good leaders, they were the first people I told when I got to work the next day and went to my Chaplain.

Depression and PTSD are debilitating issues. I never in my wildest imagination thought that I was even capable of having those thoughts. It still confuses me how I got there. I look back to two weeks ago and I still can’t comprehend the depths of my despair that night. But, I know what I felt that night and I never want to go there again.

I’ve already said how thankful I was to the people that were there for me that quite literally potentially saved my life that night. It was the first time I’d ever felt like that and I hope the last. But, I know that if it does come back, I have people I can turn to. I learned the hard way that when dealing with depression, it’s ok to be prescribed anti-depressants. We tend to have this attitude that being on anti-depressants is embarrassing or weak, but it’s no different than heart attack victims that need blood thinner or diabetes patients that need insulin for the rest of their lives. There’s no shame in that and leaders that think there is need to be replaced immediately.

If you are a servicemember and you’re contemplating suicide, you also have someone you can turn to. And as SSG Krause said in the conference call the other day, you need to understand “that seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder is so important to not only your psychological health, but your overall lifestyle; and that there is no shame in admitting it” to anyone, including your friends, family, and chain of command.

It then becomes the chain of command’s responsibility not to immediately jump to any conclusions. I learned something about myself today in helping one of my Soldiers who was where I was a few weeks ago just last night. I learned that even I have some biases to overcome and I’ve been dealing with this for nearly 7 years. I should have recognized the signs a little better and I didn’t. I jumped to incorrect conclusions that this Soldier was a poor performer who couldn’t be relied upon. What I didn’t do was look into the WHY of his performance or his history. I would have seen that he used to be a stellar performer and outstanding Soldier. I jumped to inaccurate conclusions and falsely labeled him. I’m a little ashamed of that, because I got so angry last year when I was losing my mind that no one understood what I was going through. They made things worse instead of better and my family is the only thing that kept me going. I was officially labeled a “trouble maker”, a “disgrace to the NCO Corps”, and a “poor leader”. While they can kiss my ass three ways to Sunday, it still added stresses on top of my already-challenged emotional instability at the time.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying to allow Soldiers with PTSD to get away with anything by any means. If a Soldier commits a crime, he should be punished for it while weighing his mental state into the conviction and/or sentencing process. PTSD isn’t an excuse, but it could be a factor. We, as a society, need to understand that. We can’t coddle our suffering vets, but we can’t throw the book at them either.

As is customary when I’m in this type of mood, I have a song to go along with what I’m about to say. It’s from a band I learned about just a few weeks ago – not long after my episode – called 7 Years Today. The lead singer, Mylon, got out of the Army after a tour in Iraq a little more than a year ago and wrote this song as his coping mechanism. We will be interviewing Mylon and the rest of 7 Years Today on June 3rd. Keep in mind that I just threw this together real quick.

The point is that if you find yourself someplace that may result in a fatal decision, do something. Call a friend. Write another song. Wright another blog post. Take up a hobby. Confront your pain, don’t run away from it. Write another chapter in your life instead of forcing someone else to write the epilogue.

One day, I’ll spend a little more time on it and make it a bit more in synch.

→ 13 Comments

Posted in Military Life

Tagged , ,

Preventing Suicide: Advice to Civilians

Posted on August 19, 2009 by CJ| 7 Comments

I recently wrote a piece on A Soldier’s Perspective about suicide called “Suicide Solution is No Solution.” I’ve gotten a lot of very supportive emails about all my recent posts on suicide prevention and mental health issues.

One of the emails I received posed some great questions. With the approval of the author, I wanted to answer these questions publicly in case there were others out there seeking these answers.

[Is] there any advice and direction you can give to those of us who haven’t had those experiences and truly can’t identify with the experiences our men and women in uniform encounter on a daily basis? How can we as civilians assist them in their time of need? Is there anything that we can truly do to help them? To show them how much they are cared for? To show them how important and truly invaluable they are to us? To show them how invaluable their contributions are to each one of us? To help them in deciding against making a fateful decision?

One of the toughest barriers that civilians or non-combat veterans will have to overcome is the combat veteran’s personal bias against those who haven’t “been there.” It’s not that they’re snobbish or “holier than thou” but a feeling that to truly understand what they are dealing with, you have to be there.

My grandfather fought in the skies over Germany during WWII in a B-24 and B-17. I remember reading his journal as a young man and just being awe-struck at what these young men had to deal with in the skies during their bombing runs. Yet, whenever I asked my grandfather to talk about these experiences, he closed up and wouldn’t talk. He talked around it or changed the subject completely. My father told me that my grandfather NEVER discussed his combat.

However, when I returned from Iraq, my grandfather began opening up to me in ways my father could only dream about. He talked about his combat experience and how he was “scared s***less” each time he had to get back that plane for another mission. He had been hit by German flak in the leg and many times wondered if he’d ever make it back home. That fear prompted him to constantly urge me not to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan. “I had done my time,” he said.

The fact is that because my father had never seen combat – though he volunteered to serve in Vietnam, was never sent closer than a carrier took him – he couldn’t talk to him.

Just because a combat veteran won’t open up about his experiences to those non-combat veterans or civilians doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel and give up. Our veterans still need to know that we care about them. Just because you can’t necessarily empathize with us, doesn’t mean you can’t assist us.

So, the question remains: “How can we as civilians – and I’ll add non-combat veterans – assist them in their time of need?”

The quick answer is “be there for them.” Don’t let the fact that these Soldiers (an all-inclusive term encompassing all branches of service, apologies to Marines) won’t talk about specific experiences divert you from your attempts to help. Don’t press for specifics. Be an ear. There’s a saying that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we’d listen twice as much as we spoke. Imaging you have ten ears when trying to help a veteran and no mouth.

Sometimes, there is just nothing you can verbally say that will help, but just by being there and listening and showing that you care is worthy of a million words of encouragement. Soldiers are entitled to bad days, but when they have them don’t avoid them. These are the times when Soldiers need to know they’re not alone the most. A bad day can be made even worse when we think that no one seems to care.

Don’t be thin-skinned when trying to help a combat veteran suffering with Post Traumatic Stress. He may say things he doesn’t mean or just not be capable of conveying exactly what he’s thinking at that moment. We say some stupid stuff during our lows and words are difficult to take back. However, if you have a thick skin and can make yourself understand that it’s not personal, you’ll be better off for it. Don’t get me wrong, this does NOT give the veteran the right to verbally berate you or be abusive in language. Stand up for yourself and let him know that you don’t appreciate those words and that you are there for them anyway. PTSD is not a free ticket to stupidity and criminal activity.

Is there anything you can truly do to help them? Yes. Take the time to ask them how they’re doing, especially when it appears they are in their low point. Encourage them that their life is special. Don’t be afraid to ask if they are considering hurting themselves or others. Sometimes, just the mere question will convince them not to go to extremes.

Don’t baby them. Don’t let them get away with insults or extreme behavior. Don’t patronize them by allowing them to do or say things that are hurtful. Encourage them to find outlets to deal with their feelings by talking to you or others or by writing their feelings down in a journal. You can show them you care for them just by calling them or stopping by to say hi.

For those that are able to, if you see a combat veteran at an eating establishment (indicated in the Army by a right shoulder unit patch below the flag), pay for their meal secretly. Don’t let the server point you out or give any identifying information.

I recently ate at a Cracker Barrel (Wednesday Chicken Pot Pie Day!!) on my way home from a TDY in uniform. As I was finishing up, the waitress informed me that my meal was paid for but wouldn’t say who did it. This simple act reinforced my belief that I’m not invisible and people care about me. If you can’t afford to pay for a meal, walk up to that Soldier and just thank them for their service. If you’re shy, just write it on a napkin and place it on the table or have the server take it to the Soldier.

Finally, you have to understand that sometimes nothing you can say or do will convince some people that living is worth it. When even your best efforts aren’t “good enough” revert back to what I said earlier: be thick-skinned. It’s not your fault. It’s not Bush’s fault. It’s not Obama’s fault. It’s not his family’s fault. It’s not the war’s fault. It’s that Soldier’s fault. There is nothing in this world worth taking your life over. The only one that a suicide victim has to blame is himself. Don’t take it personally. Believe me, I’ve beat myself up over and over again when this happens and it doesn’t do any good. It wasn’t my fault. Could we have done more? Of course. We can always do more! But you can everything in the world for someone and if they aren’t willing to accept that sacrifice, there’s nothing you can do about it.

I hope this helps a little for those asking these questions of themselves.

Note: I am not a doctor nor am I a trained expert in this field. I’ve studied the topic independently and the following information my personal opinion. I am not in any way a subject matter expert and recommend that you seek professional guidance for serious cases. I also do not represent the official military or government position on any of these issues.

→ 7 Comments

Posted in Patriotism, Top Posts, Why We Serve

Tagged ,