Thank you for your words. Yeah, I def. do try to put my back in the corner. I just don't understand /why/.

To answer one of your questions, no, I don't have MTBI (closest I ever came was the truck in front of me hitting 2 155's). That and a couple of other things are the only real things that I had happen -- I want to be more forthcoming and honest, since a lot of times I just let people draw their conclusions about what I may have seen or been involved in.

There was that incident, another one where I went out to do happy snaps for a mortar pit 10th mtn had put in...ended up going around the complex taking pictures of the guys in the towers. Well, came back and just as we were getting out of the truck to go to the TOC, hadji decided to drop a care package of 3 mortars, no one injured.

Another time we were out in some village and got invited in for chai tea (which IMO was awesome -- got to play with some of the kids, who are obsessed with cameras). Coming out though, some d-bag hadji thought it'd be fun to take pot shots....again, no one injured (but def. rattled me up a bit).

I just struggle w/ stuff because it's like... 'deserve' isn't the right word, but it's like....All these guys, straight up infantry, go through so much of this and tons more and are fine...I'm there for four months, only in three real ticks, and I'm the one that has all this to deal with? It just doesn't make sense and I feel like a tool whenever I talk to other guys. I guess I'm just scared of being labelled a faker, like so many of the fobbits that try to claim stuff.

Thank you for listening/reading, though, and THANK YOU for your service, Catherine. I could not have done or gone through what y'all did.