Protecting our Protectors

September 11 is a monumental day in our country's history and it’s important to keep in our hearts and minds the thousands of brave men and women who fight for our country every day. They fight against insurmountable odds to keep this amazing country safe.

There are about 2.7 million American veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and out of those 2.7 million American veterans, 20 percent have PTSD and/or depression. While the government has taken strides to improve access to mental health services and allow for the prevention of veteran suicides, there still needs to be more done to protect the citizens who bravely protect us abroad. We cannot merely forget all our veterans have done and all of their sacrifices right when they step back on home soil.

I personally have not been affected by a family member or friend who has suffered through the symptoms of PTSD induced from war. Still I believe it’s important to raise awareness for the veterans who I might not know, but who have protected myself, my family, my country, but now suffer from PTSD. I wrote a poem attempting to put myself in their shoes, a nearly impossible feat, attempting to imagine of how it must feel to come back to the United States after experiencing such a life-changing and grueling event as a war.

. . .

We look for sleep but it doesn’t

Come, at least not pleasantly. The

Neurons firing in our brains only

Produce fears from our most inner

Subconscious, from the fears we most desperately want to forget.

We push the memories back, the

Memories which are burned into

Our brains like the sting of hot metal,

The memories of our fallen brothers,

Of our fallen hopes.

We hide from our families,

Afraid they won’t accept the

New us, the hardened version of

What our jobs mold us into, and

Then glaze over with the fear of war.

We know only what we are accustomed to, the

Monster of normality is strange and foreign to us.

We avoid what sets off the

Triggers of war, the blades of the fan

Mistaken for the blades of a

Chopper, flying into the perilous unknown

We plaster smiles on our face to

Hide our anger, our uncontrollable, and burning

Rage which seems to latch onto us

Like a leech sucking the happiness we’ve forgotten.

We are angry at the way we have changed,

A person so different from the bright-eyed kids we were.

We are angry at how America the Brave

Cares nothing for their protectors

We survived, but are trapped by fear

We are the Brave

We are your Veterans.