Thread by @s_webber

There's been discussion about a Trump surrogate & former political appointee who dismissed 3/4 of vets w/ PTSD as liars, says he "sucked it up" & referred to sharing feelings as "beta."

Let me tell you about a time in Fallujah, Iraq that I think about a lot.

Thread 👇

After an ambush two of our guys were medevaced. One had been shot in the stomach. The other had been shot in the head.
They were in serious condition, but alive.

Several hours later, word got back to our platoon that, somewhere along the medevac, one of the guys had died.
One of his best friends in the platoon started to cry.

My platoon commander, one of the greatest leaders I've ever met, immediately laid into him.
He SCREAMED at him for crying.
For being weak.
For being selfish.
As only a combat infantry platoon can do, we all swarmed him.
It was the right thing to do.

In combat, weakness spreads. It must be squashed immediately. It cannot be allowed to exist.
Marines in our unit were killed in previous weeks.
More of our guys would be killed in the upcoming days.
His pain could not be allowed to be displayed.

But here's the thing: WE AREN'T IN COMBAT ANYMORE. We don't have to hold a unit together. We don't have to be ready to kill tomorrow. We don't have to push our feelings down.
It's why being home is better than being at war!

I joined in the swarm at the time. I don't regret it.
Now some mornings I wake up crying for my dead friend.

Sometimes I want the toughness back. It's a shield I grew comfortable carrying. But it's not a real solution.

I don't know if folks who call people "beta" do it for ego, attention, out of inferiority, or because they can't lower their own shields.

I do know that their comments are destructive.
That they actively make it harder to fight the substance abuse, PTSD & suicide that's ravaging so many veterans.

The attitude, the denial, the silence, I get it. It's in our DNA.
It was drilled into us. It even protected us.
Over there (right or wrong), it served a purpose.
BUT WE AREN'T THERE ANYMORE. ("We" being veterans, we gotta lot of troops still in war zones)

Vets with PTSD aren't faking.
Vets who say they have problems aren't liars.
Talking about your feeling doesn't make you "beta" (whatever the hell that even means).
"Sucking it up" may have kept us alive over there, but it's the attitude that can kill us at home!

I should take better care of myself. I, often foolishly, try to suck it up- and I pay the price.

But we CANNOT reinforce the attitudes that keep fellow veterans from getting the help that saves our lives and gives our loved ones peace.

PTSD has NOTHING to do with how tough you are. Or how well you did your job.
And, as much as the VA is criticized, they're capable of amazing work. If you're suffering, please go there.

In Iraq, we showed we would die for each other.

Now the ask is FAR easier, but no less important: be kind to each other.

For the rest of our lives, watching a buddy's back is not a charge of violence, but of compassion.

Let's not leave anyone behind.