Check out this amazing article on the Glendale Community College website by Janet Traylor, about one of the Love Your Veterans Champions and how he has pushed through the pain of PTSD.
“Healing. Poetry. Two words that Andrew R. Jones had never given much thought to before he was deployed to Iraq as a combat Marine. There, he experienced the trauma of war, not easily forgotten.
Returning to the United States, he fought as hard at home as he had fought overseas – though this time, the battles were more emotional than physical.
Now, after years of struggle with painful memories of a bloody war, Jones is finding peace. He’s exploring new paths that are as satisfying as they were unexpected. Finally, he’s on the road to healing. And – surprising everyone, including himself – it was poetry that paved the way.
The journey was difficult. Seven years in the Marine Corps infantry were followed by a stint in security. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) followed him through a couple of divorces, trouble with the law. Drinking failed to blunt the nightmares and emotional pain.
“It was getting overwhelming,” said Jones, recalling the period when bad memories and compulsions seemed to rule his life.“If I could get all those negative thoughts out of my head, put them on paper, it would be helpful,” he remembers thinking…” (continued here)