Veteran

I dotted my "i's"
And crossed my "t's"
A few months later
I was overseas


No one would say
What was next
None of us knew
What to really expect


I did some things
I never thought I would do
And saw a lot of things
I didn't want to


When our time was done
They sent me back home
Surrounded by family & friends
But still felt alone

I left a boy
Came back a man
I'm not really sure
Who I am


The friends I have
Want to get together
But stay at home by
Myself I would rather

My mother tells me
I'm not the same one
That left just a year
Ago as her son

Sometimes at night
It's hard to sleep
These memories in my head
Private I wish to keep


To tell it all
So people can understand
Is hard for me
To reach out for someone's hand

The reason I'd tell
Is so they can see
Why I'm so "different"
Not for sympathy

After telling what I've done
And what I've been through
It's obvious people don't
Know what to say or do

I just want to go back
To the person I used to be
I'm in the same body
But don't feel like me



This is just a poem that I wrote one day while I was thinking and stressing about some of my young veterans that I see at work. I feel that I have a unique insight to some of the young men that have been deployed, as a social worker for them, some may tell me more than most people hear. It tears me heart to see such young and capable men be torn apart with things that they've done and seen. Many wish they could go back to finish the job that they began. Now that they are back, some struggle with their new life, that was not put on hold for them. The young 18-23 year olds no longer blend in with their less mature classmates and friends as they used to.

Again, I also see the worst cases that we have in my area. Not everyone that is deployed comes back feeling this way, and I thank God for that. I hope that I can help some of my veteran's find their way back into what they view as "their life."

Not the most uplifting blog, I know...just what's on my mind I guess...It's from a few of the gentlemen I see....their perspectives all rolled into one.