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11bangbang

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CONTAINS GRAHIC ACCOUNTS OF COMBAT RELATED DEATHS PLEASE DONT READ IF IT WILL TRIGGER YOU TO RELIVE TRAGIC EVENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU.
I went to basic at fort benning and was assigned to the 1st infantry training brigade. From there I was assigned to the 2nd infantry division at camp Casey in Korea. After my time in Korea I was sent to fort hood Texas and assigned to the 1st cavalry division. Where i served with 2/8 cav. I was deployed to Iraq on Halloween in 2006. And returned home on January 15th 2008.Here is a picture of my platoon. I am the one kneeling down on the right hand side. Red PLT.webp
During my time in Iraq I was a Humvee driver, and gunner and also a dismount. I also drove the Bradley for a short time. We operated feom patrol base in tarmiyah Iraq. A shithole of a town at the time infested with insurgents.WE did 15 days out at the patrol base and 3 days back at the FOB do maintance and take a shower. There was no running water or electricity at the patrol bases. My first 8 hour shift on guard in the humvee started off by a sniper trying to kill me and the bullet no shit landed right in front of the truck. My TC told me to stop standing up and i didnt listen, after that shot i did.
On February 19th my life changed forever ( for the first time) when insurgents drove a 2500lb VBIED in a dumb truck through the gates of our patrol based and detonated, simultaneously they hit us with alot of small arms fire. Anyone can google Tarmiyah Iraq...and the photos and stories will come up. We were featured in the wall street journal. here is a quick photo of my platoon. I was attached to tankers...lol there were about 5 of us infartry guys attached to the tank platoon. not so lucky for us, as anyone who is a grunt knows how tankers and infantry get along. Worst part about it was getting called to the damn motor pool to do maintence on the tanks that were ALWAYS broken ALWAYS.
After the hajis blew up our patrol base we had to take over a new one right down the road. (next to a mosque of all places).We eventually ended up droping a jdam bomb on the mosque. On patrol one day i was humvee gunner and we were driving down the alleyway and i seen a group of kids standing next to the telephone pole. There were about 8 kids in a group and after i passed i turned the turrent and seen on of the little bastards holding an ak-47. So without even thinking i fired my M249 and shot 6 of them. Killing 2. The one with the gun and the one that was next to him. This still haunts me. The next event i will share with you is the one that has impacted me the most. On patrol one day i was the gunner for RED 1 our LT. We were doing a "win the hearts and minds" patrol in the market and my LT made an UNSCHEDULED stop to talk to a shop owner whos shop was damaged by us in a firefight and we had given him money to make the repairs and RED 1 wanted to stop and talk with him. We were already at the end of the patrol and everyone was bitching about him making the stop but he was in charge. I was scanning my sector and i heard a loud crack. LT was down man. f*cking sniper got him, i have no clue from where but i started spraying everywhere laying down suppresive fire while the other guys went and grabbed the LT. They threw him on the hood of our HUMVEE and we hauled ass back to the patrol base. On the way out of the market i looked over and seen a group of hajis in the shop across the street from where the LT was hit. They were f*cking laughing at us....so i laughed back with my M249. Not sure how many i hit or where but i emptied the rest of my ammo can on that shop.
When we got back into the patrol base someone tried to grap the LT so we could carry him inside to the Aid station and the first guy that tried to get him started vomiting. SO i jumped down off the truck and grabed him under his arms and another soldier grabbed his feet. I weigh about 135lbs soaking wet..and the LT had to weigh atleast 230. I remember him being sooo heavy man i struggled to carry him and as i was running through the Command Post (room with all the radios and and shit in it) i just remeber someone seeing me struggle and screaming DONT f*ckING DROP HIM BACKUS.well i maanged to get him into the aid station and on the table and they rushed us out of the room. first thing i had to do was go back out to the truck and get my sensitive items i went back out and grabbed my M249 and my NVGS. On the way back in i seen somehitng white and shiny on the ground so i picked it up...turned out to be a piece of the LTS skuill. The bullet had gone thru his Kevlar,head and out the back. I went out to the courtyard to smoke a cig and try to gather my self.. i was a nervous reck and started biting my nails....which i didnt realize where covered in blood and brain matter. i can still taste it today while i am righting this. I had blood and brains all down the front of my uniform. We lost alot of good soldiers over there.
When i got back i wasnt the same person. I was diagnosed with PTSD right after we got back and at the time that diagnosis came with the label as a shitbag.so i was put on all the shitty details...etc..bevore i eventually told the new company commander tthat i didnt give a f*ck and to kick me out. so i was booted with a discharge for misconduct. I am currently rated at 100% for service connected disability. I went from winning Soldier of the Year in Iraq to being a shitbag kicked out for misconduct.losing my GI bill in the process. I havent worked a day since i got back and am now addicted to pain killers. But i will discuss all of this in another thread at a later date.
Thank you for reading this i have more to add but i need to take a break. Sorry if this is a long read.
 
Welcome.

Two things; posting that the thread is a trigger won't get people to read it and an intro is who you are, where you served and a little story maybe. I can tell you that most aren't going to read a thread that long.
 
Welcome 11bangbang,

"Thank you for reading this i have more to add but i need to take a break."

Me too, as Jar said short and sweet is the order of the day. Looks as if you have a bit of a *shit sandwich* on your plate. Everyone on this forum has a story to tell. Face it, the worst story you'll ever hear is YOUR OWN!

Reason being, well, the beast loves to put it on the big screen between our ears every f*cking chance it gets. I only have to read it - YOU on the other hand lived it. We're here to help ourselves and you are among friends. Your fellow PTSD war wounded veterans. We augment our meds, therapy and the like with support via this forum . We laugh, cry and share our wisdom and daily ups and downs.

Pull up a chair soldier, there are lots of stuff to read here. A bit like a big *candy store* just take what you like and leave the rest.

Ba
 
Welcome Brother,

There's lots to deal with, and even more to try to understand. Finding your way back is a long process made up of small steps. You took one by posting here. Keep going.

For now just believe you're going to find ways to make things better, not the way they were, but better than they are now.

SD
 
There are Vietnam veterans on here. I'm sure we would all struggle to trump their stories. No need to justify your label of ptsd or your experiences here; our own will always be the worst.

Welcome though dude, you'll see what this place is about soon enough.
 
Thanks for all the replys. I didn't mean for my in toro to be that long but once I started writing it kind of all just spilled out. I realize most people won't read it all but it did help me to get it out. I didn't want people to think I was a fraud making a bunch of stuff up either. I tried to post some links to validate my expirernces but it wouldn't allow me to.
 
you have to post a number of posts, I think it like 10 before you can include links. Nothing to prove here, Mate. We're all in pretty rough shape as far as PTSD goes. It's also a good place to unload a lot of stuff.

Jar
 
Welcome, what year where you in Casey, for me it was 2003-2004, then I went to Ft.hood, 4ID dep 2006-2007, then went to 2/7cav 1st cav for my last deployment. I just like seeing similar patterns in service, you meet great people that where in the same areas but ya didnt know them at the time.
 
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