While enlisting in the military turns several boys into men by training them to perform under pressure, what it doesn’t do is prepare soldiers for what comes next once the uniform comes off.
Everett Weston learned this first hand as a retired US Army captain who was prompted to serve his country by the devastating attack on our nation on Sept. 11, 2001. The Seattle-born and Connecticut-raised patriot went on to serve his country during a 15-month deployment to Iraq starting in 2008.
In his recent visit with the Rotary Club of Mount Pleasant, Weston mentioned learning how combat and deployment environments can permanently impact one’s nervous system.
“You’re exposed to things that most Americans will never experience, and thankfully never should,” said the married father of one.
But the reason for his presentation, he told Rotarians, wasn’t to give his life story, but rather to relate the series of tragic events that happened to his brother-in-arms, Capt. Franky Kim.
During his years of service, the magnetic Kim was often described as “the life of the party,” but his job to recover the lifeless bodies of his fallen brothers eventually took a toll on the young Army officer.
Upon returning home from military service, Kim struggled to readjust to civilian life and couldn’t understand the depth of his “survivor’s guilt” and suffering. Kim, Weston recounted, turned to illegal substances, but when his friends tried to secure treatment, the former captain was placed on a six-month waiting list to see a therapist at the VA.
And though Kim was ultimately prescribed medication for his mental anguish, he wasn’t supplied with any real long-term support, according to Weston. After a romantic breakup, Kim took his life on Nov. 30, 2013.
“Beyond the trauma itself, you lose something else when you leave the military, your tribe. You lose your structure, your sense of belonging, your valid body, your shared language of command,” observed Weston. “And then, when that disappears, it can be incredibly isolating.”