“I had this romantic notion that everyone should serve. My dad was a great example but watching the old World War II movies really instilled that desire to serve. I was medically separated after eight years as a Specialist with a deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a deployment to Kosovo. I had just gotten back from Kosovo. We were doing a jump at Fort Bragg. I landed, felt some pain and tried to walk it off, and ended up with a broken leg in three places. Rehab and therapy just weren’t cutting it. I had wanted to do my twenty and right after that jump I’d been scheduled to go to the Warrior Leadership Course to become an NCO, but it wasn’t to be.

I graduated from Fayetteville State University, and I am currently working for a defense contractor at Fort Bragg. Thankfully, I didn’t really have a problem separating. I feel like TAPS really helped me, and I had a plan. You are who you are today because of what happened yesterday. And I like who I am today. There’s been some tough stuff, I won’t lie, but I have been consistently realizing it does get better. We don’t talk about it enough, but you can have Post Traumatic Growth too, not just the PTSD we always talk about. We’re not all broken. In fact, most of us aren’t.”