Abstract: I have discovered a disconnect in my narrative. I recognize that I had compartmentalized my life: there were my growing up years, my service years in the United States Navy, my college years, and the years of my professional life. I occasionally share anecdotes from those eras but as a cohesive whole there is sparse overlap even in my memory of how one timeframe blends into the next. Close reflection was inspired by a dear friend who challenged me to not be one of the disengaged men that Thoreau describes in Walden and yet I find it quite fulfilling to “live life simply” or as unpretentiously as possible. Gandhi’s comment on a passage in Ruskin’s Unto this Last, “the good of the individual is contained in the good of all” has shifted my perspective to stop seeing myself as well as my veteran brothers and sisters who have served as damaged goods. To focus on wounds does not allow us the space and time to move past the events that we carry around which weigh heavily on the soul. We deserve to be accepted as wholly human.
While most individuals achieve the transition to civilian life smoothly, some face significant challenges. Although numerous support services are available to those who need them, …