Frank Sonntag knew the sound of a falling mortar well. Insurgents had shelled the base in Balad, Iraq, for months, and the soldiers stationed there had taken to calling it “Mortaritaville.”
Mary McGriff thought the anxiety and depression would disappear in a couple of weeks. After all, how serious can post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) be...
“Something like 96 percent of all head casualties die in combat. I was familiar with that statistic even before I left, thanks to my mother,” Bobby says with a laugh.
On the day Staff Sergeant Jordan Emrick saved Guy Zierk’s life, he lost his own. Now Guy is on a mission to assist and help improve the lives of wounded…
Brian Sellers was all set to become a police officer. After years of rehab for his wartime injuries, and after even more years of study to earn a bachelor’s…
At a very young age, Brett Miller knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. “I was in junior high school, and it was St. Patrick’s Day,” recalls Brett.
Mike Heller’s eyes transfixed on the broken gear shift in his hand. In a fit of rage, he had just snapped it off while slamming his car into park. As his…
On June 20, 2008, in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, Anthony Villarreal’s life changed in an instant when a roadside bomb blew up the truck he was driving...
Tad Stuart was not always certain about his future. There was a question of whether Tad would be able to fly again after a catastrophic helicopter crash...
Adam Harris experienced some of the worst fighting of the war in Iraq over three consecutive tours as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps.
Chris Wolff was a flight mechanic in the United States Air Force, when a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) bounced off the wing and shattered all the windows...
Life has taught Dozer Reed an important truth about the fabled glass of water: “The glass isn’t half empty or half full. You’ve got to appreciate that you just have water in the glass.”
Dan Smee might look like your average guy next door, but upon a closer look, there's nothing remotely average about him. A combat medic whose resilience…
Nothing is impossible. Eric DeLion realized this standing at 14,505 feet on the summit of Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States.
What Nicky Norwood craves most are moments of peace with his family. These could be playing catch with his son Reed, talking about the latest adventures...
When she got the call in 2010 that her son, Josh Sommers, was nearly killed by a grenade in Afghanistan, Lisa Hopkins knew her top priority was now her son.
Chris Horman’s post-military life was similar to that of many other service members returning home from overseas: he isolated himself from friends and family and shut out the outside world.
As Manny Colón saw his dream of a lifelong military career in the United States Army come to an unexpected halt, he slowly became entangled in a nightmare of bitterness and depression.
When Michael Pence joined the United States Marines right after his high school graduation, he imagined a life serving his country, promoting the cause of freedom, and backing up his brothers in arms.
For WWP Alumnus, Tim McDonough, the message is clear: “You don’t have to be on the front line, kicking in doors and shooting at the enemy to be affected by the trauma of war.
