Former Marine, Iraq War Veteran, Recovering Alcoholic, Ptsd / Social Anxiety Survivor...

[JakeDennert]

There is a reason our numbers are small compared to the other forum.

You see when Anthony originally designed and introduced the forum he realised that veterans don't play fair with the rest of the community. When I joined I could not handle all their rules when trying to get a point across. It just ended with me being hot under the collar and would have been banned.

In this forum we can speak our mind, within reason.

The other difference you will find and not meaning to sound harsh, but I got the impression from the other forum that they enjoyed the drama surrounding their PTSD where as veterans did not really want to talk about it.

Hope you understand my meaning.

Yeah I get what you're sayin', Jimmy.

I definitely like the feel of this one over the main forum.

And I'm sure my direct experience with PTSD will always be more relevant to folks here, as it's combat PTSD, but like I said, I joined the other one thinking I could maybe help people with other forms.

But then again, maybe that wouldn't be a very good use of my time, you know? I mean anything traumatic can cause PTSD. Abusive relationships, rape, assault, getting mugged, etc... and a lot of the threads on the other forum that I've read through seem to be coming from women who have lived through these experiences.

How well can I possibly relate to them?

Not nearly as well as I can over here. I mean I'll still try over there, but this forum is a much better fit for me.

Thanks for the heads-up on how this place came to be, Jimmy.

I'm glad Anthony created a separate place for us Vets to get together and talk, well, like Vets. (haha, without pissing anybody off) :)

Jake D.

 

[tho9900]

lol ya there was always the intra and inter service kidding... while you guys called us Doc and would go to hell and back for us, the Navy side called us pecker checkers and penis machinists... good thing I didn't go dental tech.. they were tooth fairies lol... Dad went from being 0331 Marine to going Navy... he was Damage Control.. they called them "Turd Chasers"...

We all carried our own in the end.... active or reserve... but hey it wouldn't be the military without a little nudging to make you prove them you were as good as them etc..

The same Navy guys who sneered at us and called us pecker checkers were the same ones coming to us after hours with the clap and not wanting their division officer to find out..

 

[Wagon]

Hint. On a ship if you went out and bought yourself a good supply of ibuprofen.....you could basically skip sick call all together. (y):ROFLMAO: But half the fun in sick call was meeting new people and mess cranks.....hehe. Never mind solving anything. You generally were thankful that you were not a mess crank and felt better for it.

Thanks for all the motrin.

 

[JakeDennert]

lol ya there was always the intra and inter service kidding... while you guys called us Doc and would go to hell and back for us, the Navy side called us pecker checkers and penis machinists... good thing I didn't go dental tech.. they were tooth fairies lol... Dad went from being 0331 Marine to going Navy... he was Damage Control.. they called them "Turd Chasers"...

We all carried our own in the end.... active or reserve... but hey it wouldn't be the military without a little nudging to make you prove them you were as good as them etc..

The same Navy guys who sneered at us and called us pecker checkers were the same ones coming to us after hours with the clap and not wanting their division officer to find out..

Pecker checkers? Penis machinists? Haha, never heard those before.

Cool that your dad was a Marine... mine was too.

Knew plenty of 0331's when I was in -- I was an 0311 myself.

That's how it is for some Marines... look down at the Corpsmen because they're not "officially" one of us, but I never thought that way.

The two docs that were attached to my platoon felt a little out of place among us at times, I could tell they did, but I treated them just the same as if they were Marines.

After all, they were there with us, exposed to the exact same dangers we were... and they stood ready to patch us up if need be, at a moment's notice.

I remember the actions of one corpsmen in particular when a member of my squad took a bullet in the thigh. Bolted right in there, calm and collected the whole time... and kept his cool while providing all of the treatment he could.

It was his second tour, so it wasn't his first time 'round the block, but it still impressed the hell out of me.

I may have had the desire to help my wounded brother, but I didn't have the skills he did. It was an amazing thing to watch... and I just got chills remembering it.

Ooooh, memories.

 

[tho9900]

Wagon.... lol ya we noticed a higher percentage of cranks came to sick call... my second float we had to rotate through the Blue side duty roster, no big deal, better than spades and pornos 24/7... ecpecially since I was an 8541 NEC on top of the 8404... got to get called in for all the lung cases... We had no problems giving a 24 hour rack pass to someone who wasn't dramatic, it was the ones that came down having the symptoms of grand mal seizures, brain trauma, pelvic inflammatory disease, ovarian cysts, herniated disks even tho the location changed everytime you asked them where the pain was that got sent back to work... and our unwritten rule was if someone wanted ibuprofen, slide around to pharmacy and the tech would hook you up... 4k people made for a busy day in sick call sometimes..


Jake, never had the problem with not feeling part of the unit, usually the opposite... everyonce in awhile I would get a PFC or LCpl get a little mouthy... gunney or the platoon sergeant or even the platoon in general dealt with it though..

Careful of memories tho, you might not have the probs, but memories (even fun ones) sometimes get me sliding back down the yrs in my head..

Oh and to date my dad's time in... 0331, he carried a BAR... a few yrs back huh?

 

[Jimmy1]

How well can I possibly relate to them?

Not nearly as well as I can over here. I mean I'll still try over there, but this forum is a much better fit for me.

Thanks for the heads-up on how this place came to be, Jimmy.

I'm glad Anthony created a separate place for us Vets to get together and talk, well, like Vets. (haha, without pissing anybody off) :)

Jake D.

There is a huge difference mate. And a lot of the times we can't relate to them. Why??

Apart from people who are victims of multiple periods of abuse or the emergency services who see trauma all the time, most other people's PTSD stems from a singular incident like an auto wreck or a rape, or even a natural disaster. There symptoms are just as bad, but their PTSD sometimes is a lot easier to treat as they only have one incident.

Where as veterans for example may have many multiple episodes of trauma. Most of them are tucked away and they are told to harden the f*ck up and deal with it. It is generally not until many years later that the symptoms rear their head and then they have years worth of traumas to deal with. Therefore a lot of veterans see people with one incident of trauma as trivial, even though it's not.

 

[tho9900]

The only problem I have seen in them is a lot seem to revel in it, retalk the trauma over and over or the symptoms... I am on a forum for service dog owners... there are several that seem to sit in a tub filled with anguish and anxiety and bathe themselves in it with each post.. I guess that goes along with our Harden the F^ck up mentality... I dunno... just glad to have here...

Oh and I think in the civvy world it is like a red badge of courage worn proudly as well... I think 3/4 if not more of the people on that board have PTSD... only 2 of us are ex military.....

 

[JakeDennert]

Where as veterans for example may have many multiple episodes of trauma. Most of them are tucked away and they are told to harden the f*ck up and deal with it. It is generally not until many years later that the symptoms rear their head and then they have years worth of traumas to deal with. Therefore a lot of veterans see people with one incident of trauma as trivial, even though it's not.

That's definitely how I dealt with it at first, Jimmy:

Tried to lock it up.

I mean that's such a big part of the training... not letting emotion come into the picture. When I first returned from my deployment, I think I knew deep down that somethin' was going on with me -- somethin' deep inside -- but I ignored it. Didn't talk to anybody... put myself in an alcoholic haze instead.

I used booze to "dull" everything in the civilian world because I felt so uncomfortable in it. And I probably would have continued this pattern of behavior until it either 1) killed me or 2) it had gone on for years and years, and then it would've been so much harder to treat and deal with.

Glad I was able to start getting straightened out before either of those happened.

I used to think that way -- when I first learned that people label those singular, traumatic events in the civilian world as "PTSD"... I didn't really think they had much to whine and cry about. I mean hell, I've had like 6 car accidents over the course of my life... only one of which didn't involve alcohol... and I can still get into a car today without any problems.

But the only sober car accident I had, when another driver blew through a stop sign and ripped off my back bumper, sending me fish-tailing almost to the point of losing control... it's had much more of an impact on me than the others. It happened in total darkness, and to this day, whenever it's dark out and I'm passing by the intersection where the accident happened, I still remember it -- and check real quick to see if anyone's coming.

I don't even consider that PTSD, though... compared to the combat and deployment related effects that I'm still working through. I'm just saying that my one sober car wreck is what's been helping me try and empathize with people that never saw combat and claim to have PTSD.

Thanks for another thought-provoking post, Jimmy... you got me talkin' again. ;)

Jake D.

 

[JakeDennert]

Jake, never had the problem with not feeling part of the unit, usually the opposite... everyonce in awhile I would get a PFC or LCpl get a little mouthy... gunney or the platoon sergeant or even the platoon in general dealt with it though..

Careful of memories tho, you might not have the probs, but memories (even fun ones) sometimes get me sliding back down the yrs in my head..

Oh and to date my dad's time in... 0331, he carried a BAR... a few yrs back huh?

Hey, glad they took care of you when the junior Marines would start shootin' their mouths off!

BAR, eh? Damn! Yeah, I'd say that was at least a few years ago. :)

Never got to play with the Browning...

 

[Jimmy1]

Sorry for hijacking your intro, but while I am on the topic I thought I might continue.

Another analogy is 3 women on 3 different occasions get chased down a dark alley by a man with a knife.
They are assaulted. One fights the guy off, one gets raped and beaten up, and the other man is scared off before he can do what he wants.

PTSD is so random that the person who fights the guy off and the one who gets beaten and raped are fine, but the last one where all that happened was being chased with a knife ends up having PTSD.

This is also why there is stigma in the defence departments all over the world.

You can have a veteran who witnesses countless deaths, fears for his life in every battle, and takes part in one hundred incidents where both coalition and enemy are killed. He may never have a problem his whole life.
Yet a clerk who works behind the wire the majority of the time and manages to go out on one patrol which is contacted ends up with PTSD.

Its so random and I never dispute someone having PTSD, but a lot of veterans who think they have PTSD might not. There are so many similar things out there like 'Adjustment Disorder', Chronic Anxiety, and Depressive episodes, all that sound like PTSD. This is why the testing is so rigorous and the VA's don't hand out the diagnosis on a silver platter.

 

[Jimmy1]

Thanks for another thought-provoking post, Jimmy... you got me talkin' again. ;)

Jake D.

Jake, there are a lot of us that sit in the dark and ponder. I like to encourage people to speak their mind no matter what, it helps with the therapy side of things and you feel better.

And don't worry, if you say something inappropriate, you will get jumped on, but it takes a lot.

As long as you are not blatantly racist or make a personal attack on anyone on the forum you are safe.

We appreciate anybody's input, no matter how new they are to the forum.

Jimmy

 

[reddevil1111]

Classic Marine Corps tale Jake... You know whats over the hill your humping? Another hill.
Glad your here, tough row to hoe but we all make a similar journey to the end. I know your story is all yours but a lot of us have similar ones. I know the bottom of a bottle all to well and I am proud you have stayed sober for so long. Congrats on the hard work!
I was in the 2nd mardiv during the 1st gulf war and I ran around the jungles of central America quite a bit as well. Semper Fi Brother! and Welcome!