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Civilian life for me after Iraq has been the worse experience I have ever had. I am now a Disabled Veteran with 14 years under my belt and 8 of those years as a Scout Sniper.
One day I'm living a good life with my own house, nice car, Fiance i have been with for 7 yrs and a beautiful Husky I raised since she was a pup. I was a well spoken, high on life, sociable individual with everyone I ran into.

Then I enter Civilian life due to my injuries from Iraq and things went to hell. I am about to lose my house, barely holding onto my car, my fiance gave up on me and I'm in more debt than I have ever been in in my 33 years of living. Why is my life like this? Well for starters I suffer from Chronic Depression, PTSD, injured Lumbar Spine, blown L4 disc and cognitive memory loss. I am no longer that well spoken, high on life, sociable individual anymore and it bothers me. I assumed that being a Disabled Veteran after serving my country that Civilian life would be at least semi decent. But being disabled alot of employers turn me down for employment. Society in itself is a problem for alot of us Iraqi Veterans. I say this because the support just isn't there anymore for those of us who served. Sure we have avid supporters and believe me its very much appreciated. But the rest of Society, the ones that take what they have for granted and act like nothing is happening overseas, they are the ones that make our problems worse.
Becoming a civilian has been a wake-up call for me and many others like me. And it's not a good one. But it is what it is I guess. The Army was my life. Everything I have loved revolved around that life. Now I'm left with nothing. Just like the other 14,476 disabled homeless veterans. At least I still have my dog I guess.

Learn more about this author, Chad Davis.
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