Speaking to Soldiers

Text

I was asked to speak at Fort Gillem recently, and when I came to Fort Gillem, the base commandant asked to speak to me. So I went to see General Wagner and General Jujitsky [spelling], who happened to be both of Polish Heritage, and they told me what they were doing... He says, 'What we do here, we treat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. That’s what we do here.' And when I went to face the audience... I changed my whole presentation, and I addressed myself to what I felt were common experiences that they and I had. And I gave them the benefit of my experiences. And I suggested that the only way you can get out of the prison of your experiences is by sharing it, by speaking about it, by writing about it, by getting it out, by verbalizing it, by facing it...

When we finished they all lined up to shake my hand and thank me. And one of the soldiers was standing on the side... When everybody passed by he came over to me and he said, 'I just finished the second tour of duty in Iraq. When you serve in Iraq, they give you a badge.' He pulled down the badge and handed it over to me. He said, 'I want you to have it.' I mean I don’t have to tell you we wound up crying on each other’s shoulders, knowing that we understood each other’s problem."