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A few nights after we got back from the mission to Prata Ghar, we had a party to celebrate the successful collaboration of German and American forces. Since the Germans were the only ones on the base with beer, they played host.
This would be the first of a series. Over the following weeks it became commonplace to hear a bunch of SEALs leaving our compound saying, “Hey, we’ll be back, we have to go debrief with the Germans.” We had a number of parties with the Germans after that first mission, the last of which was quite memorable although not in a happy sense.
stress disorder and general, first of all, you had a distinguished military career, extraordinary responsibilities, were head of the joint task in israel in the middle east, but when you retired from the military, you got involved in helping those who had gone through what nate has described. why? well, my wife and i, kathleen, had the privilege of serving with great americans like nate and julie and so many others. so, we felt committed particularly when we saw global war on terror kickoff, we knew there would be wounds of war, wouldn t be just visible, but the invisible wounds of war, the heart, the soul, the spirit and we knew people would need help with that so we committed ourselves and went with an organization called military ministry to help the nates and julies of this world. mike: when you look at this issue, broad perspective. how big is it with those who have come back from combat and into service? well, it s huge in an
in afghanistan and we were shot down on the mountain top before we landed and several men were killed that day and we fought from just before sunup until well after the sun went down and we found the seal that we were looking for, he had already been killed, but we brought him home, but at the cost of six more of our fellow troopers lives. mike: so, six rangers that were with you under your command were killed seeking to rescue a navy seal who himself was already deceased. there were, some of them were rangers and another seal that was killed and it was a joint special ops unit, a mix of different services. mike: a 15-hour battle and so, when that s over, you come back and everybody says, nate, you re a hero, you ve got the purple heart and bronze star and heroic action that s well deserved, but something was going on inside of you that you didn t quite feel like the hero. i think that s awkward for anyone who feels they re doing their job and especially those
disorder. general, first of all, you had a distinguished military career. you had extraordinary responsibilities. you were ahead of the joint task in israel, in the middle east. but when you retired from the military. you got involved in helping those who have gone through what nate described. why? well, my wife and i kathleen had the privilege of serving with great americans like nate and julie and so many others so we felt committed particularly when we saw global terror kick off. we saw the wounds of war and knew there would be invisible wounds of the war. heart, spirit. we knew people would need help with that. we went with an organization called military ministry to help with the nates and julies of the world. mike: when you look at the issue, broad perspective, how big is it with those who have come back from combat and service? it s huge in an individual s life.
related to dealing with a combat veteran that returns. then they need to leverage themselves through the community organizations, churches, organizations like military ministry. anything they can do. mike: is there a website? sure. i would recommend people go to ptsdhealing.org. it covers this whole subject. we also have a rapid response center. that s where we have respo responders ready to answer questions, help people, care-givers, give help, all of that. it s also important for partners. we have a number of wonderful partners. we have the uso and american association of christian counselors, air compassion for veterans. american bible society. building a consortium so that we move a nation to care and we truly can get everything in the fight. mike: you ve got some materials you brought with you. the combat trauma healing man wall and when war comes hope. our audience will get copies of these materials as well as nate s book. how can others get the material that you have for o