Who is looking back?
“Combat is absolutely an addiction. My first full hard hit [was when] we [went] in to get these high value targets. We were coming in in 8 [loaded] Humvee’s. All 8 vehicles pull up, drop us off into our staging area, & then leave the area to cordon the area to provide covering fire. Meanwhile we have air [support] coming in, with helicopters over head laying down protection fire & trying to make sure no one is running away. [While] we are throwing flash bangs & smoke & we’re shooting and people are shooting at us. People are dropping here & there, you’re calling in medi-vacs. Then at the end you’re like, we got the bad guys & I’m alive…
You will never get any rush in your entire life like that, nobody can ever reach that level unless you’ve been there.” ~Patrick
Combat is a high that no drug could ever reach. It’s a rush that no drug could ever make you feel. Once you’ve had a taste for it, you crave the high & rush you’ve had before.
No bungee cord jumping, no skydiving, no nothing that you can do will ever give you that type of rush. And the rush is absolutely addicting. I was hooked at my first hard hit in 2003 & that’s why I went back in 05 & 07”. ~Patrick
Not everyone that serves in the military is made for combat, it’s not a situation that everyone can mentally prepare for, let alone mentally handle while there. Many service members will NEVER see combat, but for the ones that do & survive, there is a greater chance they will develop PTSD.
While Patrick was in country he said that was when he felt the most normal. He was understood there. He didn’t have to explain himself or answer questions about why he was there, everyone already knew. Back home people didn’t understand him.
“You’re like a God over there. The locals that don’t want to kill you, absolutely love you. They just want to be in the presence of an American. It’s crazy because we would be ambushed & blown up on one block, drive down [to] hand out water on the next block, go do a hard hit or cordon & knock on another block, then you’re playing soccer in the street with kids 3 blocks away from where you just got ambushed.”~Patrick