Marine Veteran Uncovers Silent Struggles of Post-Service Life

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The one statement someone told me was it takes 5 years to fully transition out of the Marines and that guy was spot on. I did 20 years and retired in 2015 and to be totally honest in 2020 it finally all caught up with me. In the Marines we are taught to move fast. Move direct. Move with purpose. Always be on the ready. When you get out that doesnt stop. I compare it to this. Say your going 100 mph in a car and you hit a brick wall. Do the objects in the car stop moving? Nope they don't. I had to move away from the Marine Corps in order to change. When I retired I stayed around Camp Lejeune and that was my worst mistake. I had to physically remove myself in order to change and thank God I did. It probably saved my life

I really liked the relationship between combat and tough upbringing and honouring the people who sacrificed more! Well said

My recruiter was phuckin awesome. He didn't lie to me and everything he said came true. I never got to thank him because he pcs'd before I was able to come home and see him. He helped me out a lot and was the one honest recruiter. I remember getting to finally wear our Berets. 9 weeks lead up to this and we spent the final week on an FTX with a 14 mile ruck to the Anzio course where we got to kick in doors, and clear rooms and we were finaly moving a unit. I had been sicker than a dog for the previous 3 days I mean a fever so bad I was shaking but I didn't quit, didn't want to say hey I'm sick. My squad was doing or second to last room clearing exercise this time is was a 2 story building and I run up stairs, we stack, I kick in the door, go to my right clear the room I come back to the hallway heading to the other room and then it's lights out for me. I wake up under a water Buffalo with my drill Sgt, trying to wake me up by splashing water on my face as I come.to I try getting up he says stay down, stay down you passed out, youre going to the hospital. I start talking to my battle and ask him what happened and then I hear my drill Sgt say 1st Sgt is taking you to the hospital now leave your gear and weapon I'll take it back for you. I knew it was super serious because our 1st Sgt was a no bs you handle your business type and he had a very worried look on his face and the fact my Drill Sgt said I'll take your gear and weapon. I get in the van and I'm instantly apologizing and he said hey don't worry just get better. You didn't complain, you didn't fuss, you pushed your self harder than anyone else here and still you're trying to push even more. Right now you need to just focus on getting better. I was worried I'd get recycled. I got to the ER took 12 saline IVs and was given some kind of medication then told go to the barracks get some clothing then come back for 24 hours observation. I didn't go back I went and took a shower, put on clean ACUs and marched back out towards the Anzio course to meet up with my PLT and took my gear and weapon from my Drill Sgt. He looked at me like wtf but just handed me my stuff and said fall in soldier. We got back to the Barracks and they told us to go get our Berets then the entire company got in formation and we were told to put them on. That was such a proud moment for me. that was the hardest I've worked for anything up to that point and I loved every minute of it.

Damn this was a beautiful episode. I'm not a vet but had my fair share of childhood trauma and the whole self destruction thing is so true. I'm 28 and thanks to therapy and meds for my anxiety, life is slowly starting to seem exciting and happy again. And i'm definetly looking forward to reading that book!

Great testimony. Thank you for sharing this conversation.

This shit is something that no one tells you about; you believe ALL you and your brothers are forever, and in a way we are, but for most of us it’s like that meme where all the kids are hanging out around the that little green electrical box. The smoke pit is our little green electric box; we smoked that last cigarette together and didn’t know it was the last time.

Professional leadership is a beautiful thing. From both sides. You learn from good examples and non examples.

Dude if u could find a way to convert this to Paramedics in the civilian world u could make a larger impact cause no one gets what we see that we can never unsee !!!!!!!!

God bless brother! Great message.

This is why my 20 year old wants to go into the service. I asked him why now and he said, It's not about the first 4 years, It's about going for 4 years, coming home and getting my degree so that I can go back in and be a chaplain. These guys have no one to talk to or confide in or look out for them and I feel like that's what I should be doing. And it's true, veterans can't find psychologists psychiatrists or counselors who served. They're all civilians who have no idea what they've been through and so they don't feel that they can open up or share what they've had to do to still be alive.

Not only did my recruiter not lie to me, he did me a solid by un-effing my paperwork. I got credit for two getting two others to join from my school (no idea how…one was my brother, no idea who the other one was), but the paperwork/record somehow got lost while I was in the Delayed Entry Program. He caught it and fixed for me, so I was able to come out as a PFC from boot camp. All of the recruiters in the office were straight up in telling me that some parts are gonna suck, so I was under no delusions that it was gonna be all sunshine and rainbows 🌈. If I wanted that, I would have joined the Navy 🏳️‍🌈! 😅

Beautiful, touching account. Peace.

Thank you for putting so many of my feelings into words. I have sabotaged so much for myself. USMC 11-16, OEF, OIR

Semper Fi brother, to the bone.

Matt Stack is a stand up guy. What you see here is how he really is. When I was stationed at Pendleton and my wife and I found a local church, Matt and his wife were one of the first to greet us and welcome us. We still keep in touch to this day and I’m proud of you, Matt! God bless 🙏🏼

This was so good need another episode

55:44 Thank you for your service (and/or sacrifice) Never having served myself, I've always struggled with that myself, at the risk of sounding preprogrammed like a restaurant cashier asking if everything was okay, who could actually care less. I've tried to find something more original, something that sounded less like a Walmart cashier wishing me Happy Holidays. I think your sentiment is a lot better but, I don't have kids, so I still think, for me, it's better just to leave it unsaid. It's like when someone you don't know finds out that one of your relatives has pass and the automatic, knee jerk reaction is to say, sorry for your loss, no, you're not really sorry, you didn't know them, you don't even know me... fifteen minutes from now, you won't give it another thought

great episode

Oh what you have pointed out about no transitioning process for getting out is so true. Military thrives on chaos, never realized the connection of it to my civilian life. A relationship with Jesus is on point. Thank you from Denver.