It has always been hard for me to share my emotions with others, especially when a common experience is not shared. I think this is why it has been a challenge for me to sum up my experience in the war. There are no boundaries to the emotions one feels when at war. Working in an emergency room in Iraq taught me to go to a place in my mind away from emotion, so that I could render care to the wounded. Facing those emotions later was the hard part, often done with a shoulder of one of my “battle buddies” to lean on.

I have been told that I am a little modest in regards to my war experience. Although I was not on the “frontlines,” I saw what the war physically did to people. I saw many perish… I would undoubtedly give this gift to one of the many whom I watched take their last breath of air, for the sole reason that they would be here today.