Reply #50: I agree it varies

[JonLP24]

What was your job?

I was a long haul truck driver or 88M. When I got the driving habits I developed carried over. I look up at the overpasses(someone could be standing up there) as I drive under them, I swerved like crazy when I saw something on the road--in Iraq bombs are often disguised in trash and there are a lot of pot-holes(in many instances, more like man-holes). Also many people notice when I ride shotgun I often look to my right to see if the road is clear of traffic so they can make a turn(trained to do this a lot because of the size of the trucks). However, I don't have problems in crowded places like they told us that some who come back from deployments will like to sit in a corner of a restaurant so no one is behind them or I didn't have the issue of always checking for exits or nearest place to escape like Bourne Identity. Probably because of the nature of my job. Thankfully I didn't witness people die though one did in my unit and others were injured.

I do think it is important for society to understand even though it would be hard for them to understand. It is one thing to die or become seriously injured, which I'm sure society is aware of, but there is so much that goes into deployment. It is hard to explain. The reason why I say they should try to understand because if you're asking them to go to any war it is important to realize how taxing it is mentally, physically, and emotionally it is to be deployed. Hope I'm making sense, there is so much that goes into it that deciding you want to send troops somewhere shouldn't be taken lightly as it is even though this is what they signed up for.