Only kids can have nightmares, right?

Perched behind a rock, the familiar sound of bees whizzes through your head as the bullets whip past your ears. Bursts of gunfire pierce the dry sky and ricochet off of the barren ground around you. Hundreds of spent bullet casings lie gleaming in the desert sun, each representative of another instant that you have survived in order to continue fighting. You suddenly hear an ever so slight "thump" from a couple of yards away. In the midst of all the gunfire and battle cries, it is akin to hearing a needle drop in a haystack, yet you hear it, you recognize the sound, and after scanning the field, you see it. You see it laying next to a fellow comrade reloading his M16. If you could have one wish in the entire world, you'd wish that the enemy hadn't properly cooked the grenade. They did.

Thousands of soldiers have experienced the coarse reality of this situation. Thousands of men and women are left broken with the images and memories of death. Have you ever witnessed the maiming of a soldier and heard the chilling cry of a dying man? How do you get over that? Do you just shrug it off? Can you erase it from your mind? Many returning soldiers are left to deal with these painful experiences; this is why over a third of Iraq veterans seek psychological therapy. Haunted by vivid recollections and disturbing dreams, these Vets suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which commonly leads to alcoholism, drug abuse, and unfortunately in some cases, suicide. PTSD also handicaps the Vets' abilities to have close relationships with others in fear that either of them will die someday. Future dreams and aspirations become demolished and life is stripped of its optimistic hope.

As quoted by Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, "I had 38 guys under my command. One shot himself in the leg to go home. Seven of them got divorces, one is in a mental institution, and one took his own life a few months after he got back. Not everyone comes home with post-traumatic stress disorder, but no one comes home unchanged."

Chong, Jia-Rui, and Thomas H. Maugh II. "Study Details Mental Health of War Veterans." Common Dreams. Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2006. Web. 19 Oct. 2009. .

Oak, Manali. "Emotional Effects of War on Soldiers." Buzzle. 20 Aug. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. .

Tian, Stan. "The Emotional Effects of War on Soldiers." Health Guidance. SOS Villages, 2004. Web. 19 Oct. 2009. .