From Veteran to Arrow Preacher

Early in my life I knew I wanted to be a soldier. I dreamt about it, and I put every ounce of energy I had into making that dream a reality. At 19 years old after a lengthy recovery from surgery I finally managed to get through the MEPS medical exam, and start my process to becoming a soldier. After a few rounds at MEPS and a few changes in the plan I was finally ready to leave on September 18^th of 2003 I left for and arrived to basic training at Fort Knox Kentucky. There I would spend months training, and then onto Korea. There I would stay for only a brief few months before again moving on this time to a combat theater. Eventually I would suffer an injury that would end my military career. I moved around a bit with my first wife and sadly that marriage would suffer a catastrophic failure, and I would again start over. I met another someone and eventually marry, and in the end, again, the exact same failure as the first marriage. This second marriage would leave me nearly dead in the truest of literal terms, and it would be a death and rebirth of sorts for me. In the ashes of a failed marriage and a near death experience I would find myself a changed man. I would seek for answers, and one day, it was dropped into my lap. I took the persona of my television hero and I would use it to create an outlet for me to write about my personal battles with the darkness and I would find topics that would come to me and my photography and writing would go on to become the 300 plus posts it is today. My goal has always been to reach out and save as many veterans as I can. I want to prevent any veteran from suffering my fate. My goal is to one day go beyond this little blog and reach others on a much larger scale. I will work towards that goal, and maybe along the way save a few lives in the process. We cannot run from the dangers that lay ahead, and we cannot run from the darkness that is within us. We must learn to face that darkness, because only when we face the darkness, the hurt, the pain, the suffering, the tragedies that we endure through, then and only then can we say we’ve finally concurred the bitter cold of the darkest depths of our psyches.

Always fight the fight, and never give up. Be strong and be courageous and never let the darkness win. While this fight is a never ending battle we must continue to fight and allow ourselves to stay above. We can’t do it alone, and we’ll never be able to manage alone. We all need help sometimes, and through the Graces of God we are given people in our lives to help us along the way. We are never alone, and help is always just a prayer away. Look to the Heavens and always rely on God for strength because that’s where true strength comes from. Fight the fight, and never give up hope.