Savannah and Veterans

So the wedding in Savannah was great in the sense that Savannah is an amazing city. Everyone should get there at some point. Preferably in the spring (I have a feeling it gets nasty come summer time). However, seeing all of our old college friends from Chris's ROTC class was really hard. This is the first time they have all been in one place since graduating college. Opposite deployment schedules to Iraq have meant they have been in opposite places for years now. So they have all been shipped back and forth overseas multiple times.

I could go on and on about how sad it is. About how many of them are injured and scarred physically and emotionally. I could tell you word for word how they talked about wasting their 20's watching people die, and how maybe them dying would have been a better option. About how they would start having panic attacks in small spaces because they couldn't see the exits. About how they were having horrible neurological symptoms from an IED that went off yards away from them.  About how they are ALL getting out of the army but are having horrible times finding jobs, despite having college degrees, because the job market sucks and sucks 100 times more because of discrimination against veterans.

But instead of going into the great detail, I will just say this. My friends are not the same. They will never be the same. These experiences have changed them forever. And it makes me very very sad.  I am so lucky that Chris has readjusted to civilian life without issue. Most men who have been in this war are not so lucky. It truly broke my heart.