A Sniper's Story

‘For God & Country’: A sniper’s story

A 22-year-old Marine sniper talks about fighting, coming home from Iraq

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16096369/

This program aired on MSNBC. If you go to the link I posted above, you can read an interview. What I find most interesting is the truthfulness that seems to be reported, things we hear our sons say all the time.

I am posting the last little bit of it below:

Doc Block: What is the one thing that makes you angriest about news coverage of the conflict?

Orth: Most news networks will interview us during combat and completely change what we said just to have better ratings. That means the American public does not get the true story on what is taking place in Iraq.

Doc Block: What was it like to come home after combat? How had you changed? Could you go back to living the same life?

Orth: You will never be the same. You approach life differently, the way you think is different. You’ve seen and been through things that people can’t dream up in nightmares, but in the end your life and personal interactions somehow mean more than ever.

Doc Block: How were you received by family? Friends? The public?

Orth: With love and support by most people. Others would ask me questions about what we were doing and why we were over there, and I could see once we were done talking, that they understood a little bit better of why we were doing in Iraq.

Doc Block: Were you aware of the public’s generally negative attitude about Iraq while you were overseas?

Orth: Yes, we all knew that the American people thought negatively about the war but we didn’t care because the media is telling different stories about what is really going on, how could they know the truth unless they were over here fighting the fight?

Doc Block: What are your plans now that you are back? What was the first thing you did when you got home?

Orth: First thing I did when I got home was drink a beer. For the most part I’ve been working on my mother’s house to sell it because she became ill. Other than that I’m just trying to find a job until I can start college.

Doc Block: What are the images from Iraq that will stay with you for the rest of your life?

Orth: Mostly death and destruction like everyone else but also the happy kids that can now play in the streets safely, sitting down and eating lunch or dinner with an Iraqi family, but most of all, the friends and brothers I made.

Doc Block: Emotionally, how hard is it to adjust?

Orth: When I first got back, it didn’t seem too hard, but after a while you sometimes out of nowhere you start to cry or just feel totally alone like there is no one there for you. That’s the really hard part.

Doc Block: Have you experienced any form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Orth: Yes, I think everyone does. I came home the first time and thought any car on the road that got close to me was going to blow up. I couldn’t drive. I would get panic attacks.

Doc Block: If you could go back in time to the moment when you signed up for the Marines, would you do it again?

Orth: In a heartbeat.