Speaker 1: Multiple people in my family clean my father are veterans.
Speaker 2: Troops that have been to war and now they're back.
Speaker 3: And think and be grateful for their service.
Speaker 4: Sacrifice, love for their country, just unselfishness, all that.
Speaker 2: They do for us.
Speaker 3: There are some people in this country who take extraordinary
Speaker 3: steps to provide for the freedom and security.
Speaker 2: We forget that those people exist.
Speaker 1: We know them as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,
Speaker 1: and Coast Guard. They call themselves soldiers, seals, rangers, airmen, sailors,
Speaker 1: devil dogs, and so much more. We call them fathers, brothers,
Speaker 1: sons and husbands, mothers, daughters, sisters and wives. We call
Speaker 1: them friend and neighbor. These veterans answered the call. Now
Speaker 1: we answer.
Speaker 5: Theirs, and they.
Speaker 1: Are the best our country has to offer, and we
Speaker 1: love them. Today, we honor them and we serve them.
Speaker 1: David Malsby is your host, and he welcomes you to
Speaker 1: this community of veterans. As together we are building the
Speaker 1: road to hope.
Speaker 6: And indeed we are glad to have you along. On
Speaker 6: a Sunday afternoon, those of you listening through the KPRC
Speaker 6: nine to five OO on the radio dial in Houston, Texas,
Speaker 6: thank you so much for joining us. Those of you
Speaker 6: listening through the Magic Podcast. We certainly do appreciate that.
Speaker 6: Wherever you listen to podcasts, just look for Road to
Speaker 6: Hope Radio. There we are and we'd love to have
Speaker 6: you hit that little subscribe button. It'll just download each
Speaker 6: and every week once the show is loaded up. And
Speaker 6: greatly appreciate it times ten. When you share the podcast,
Speaker 6: you never know who might hear about us that needs
Speaker 6: the programs that we offer. So a big, big thank
Speaker 6: you for doing that. Great thanks all so for our
Speaker 6: sponsors allow us this opportunity to spend a little time
Speaker 6: with you each and every week. A good friends, Billy
Speaker 6: Connie Stagner A Corey Diamond and Design two eight one
Speaker 6: four eight two forty seven fifty five. When it's time
Speaker 6: to get that's something special for the someone special in
Speaker 6: your life, you need to make sure you're doing with
Speaker 6: people you trust, people who share your values. A Cory
Speaker 6: ac R Diamond and Design two eight one four eight
Speaker 6: two forty seven fifty five. Then well, we all have
Speaker 6: those oops moments in life Oops steam dot com. We
Speaker 6: keep them on speed dial around our place two eight
Speaker 6: one eight two two zero five sixty one Oops Steam
Speaker 6: dot com. Just a big believer. If you're going to have,
Speaker 6: you know, strangers come into your house to do cleaning
Speaker 6: and such, you want to make sure that you are
Speaker 6: working with people that you trust in again, people that
Speaker 6: share your values. Oops Steam dot com. And when you're
Speaker 6: ready to buy that little piece of Texas that you
Speaker 6: want to call home, Republic Brand Ranch beautiful acreage. You
Speaker 6: don't have to build immediately. There's not some time time
Speaker 6: set that you've got to do it. But buy it
Speaker 6: while you can buy out. Why it's available Republic Grand
Speaker 6: Ranch dot com. All right, got a couple of guys
Speaker 6: in the studio with us today. I want to introduce yourself.
Speaker 6: You've been here before many times actually, so just reintroduce
Speaker 6: yourself to the world.
Speaker 4: Ah. Yes, my name's Christopher P. D. Peters.
Speaker 6: I go buy p D and Branch and Reserve.
Speaker 4: I was in the Army. I served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Speaker 4: I'm currently filling a position as a mentor in training
Speaker 4: at Camp Hope.
Speaker 6: How's that going.
Speaker 4: That's going very well. A lot of knowledgeable people that
Speaker 4: I'm working under, so I have a lot of resources
Speaker 4: available to me. So it's really great.
Speaker 6: How far are you into the training program.
Speaker 4: I'm I basically have about a half a month left
Speaker 4: and then I'll be assigned to Bay.
Speaker 6: All right, very cool, Well, congratulations. When did you graduate?
Speaker 6: April April? Okay, April twenty five. How long did it
Speaker 6: take you to get through the program in Camp Hope?
Speaker 4: I actually spent eight months into the program. So the
Speaker 4: way it worked out, just the time of the month
Speaker 4: in which I showed up at camp, I had to
Speaker 4: wait an extra month to move on to Yellow Phase.
Speaker 4: And then I took an extra month because I got
Speaker 4: a new sponsor and I wanted to rework my steps
Speaker 4: with my new sponsor. And I wasn't trying to rush anything.
Speaker 4: I wanted to do everything the right way.
Speaker 6: Gotcha. Well, we're glad to have you as part of
Speaker 6: the foundation. Thank you. It's awesome, grateful you're here. All right, Matthew,
Speaker 6: you want to introduce yourself to the world.
Speaker 3: Yeah, my name's Matthew. Eaton was a combat engineer with
Speaker 3: second Engineers Station in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
Speaker 3: It did one tour in Afghanistan Route Clearance twenty thirteen
Speaker 3: for seven months. I was a little late deployed. My
Speaker 3: unit had just deployed when I got to my unit.
Speaker 3: So I got on a burden and went and caught him.
Speaker 6: Gotcha.
Speaker 3: So where'd you grow up again? I grew up in Tucson, Arizona.
Speaker 3: I was born in Portland, but race in Arizona.
Speaker 6: All right, what was your claim to fame in high school?
Speaker 3: I was a basketball player. I played basketball four years,
Speaker 3: basically all year round. When I wasn't playing basketball, I
Speaker 3: was golfing. I wanted to be like Mike. I gotcha, Well,
Speaker 3: Tucson and some nice courses in the area.
Speaker 6: Yeah. Are you any good of basketball?
Speaker 2: I was pretty good at it. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I tried out community college. College wasn't for me, so
Speaker 3: I didn't stick around for too long before. I just
Speaker 3: continued working.
Speaker 6: Okay, all right, point guard, shooting guard.
Speaker 3: I was a shooting guard small forward. With my heights,
Speaker 3: there's utility. I played everything. I just yeah, my comfortable Yeah,
Speaker 3: my comfortable spot was shooting guard, small forward.
Speaker 6: All right. Nice, So you played all four years, yes, sir?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 6: Very cool. How long were you in community.
Speaker 2: College the first time?
Speaker 3: I was there for about three months, close to three
Speaker 3: months one semester, and then I dropped out. I was
Speaker 3: going for psychology, but my psychology teacher and I had
Speaker 3: different views of what I thought it should be like.
Speaker 3: So I went full time working for my dad.
Speaker 6: What kind of work was that he.
Speaker 3: Was He owned a small business renting equipment anything from
Speaker 3: a lawnmower to a full sized tractor. I started working
Speaker 3: there when I was around sixteen years old. I would
Speaker 3: do that on the weekend outside of basketball practice.
Speaker 2: I saw it off as like the.
Speaker 3: Janitor basically, sure, and I worked my way up to
Speaker 3: then servicing all the equipment.
Speaker 2: And then.
Speaker 3: When I was eighteen years old and I stopped going
Speaker 3: to school, community school, community college, I then became a
Speaker 3: store manager.
Speaker 6: Nice.
Speaker 3: That was difficult a little bit because I was eighteen
Speaker 3: years old and I everybody was older than me, right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that can be a challenge, Yeah yeah, all right.
Speaker 6: A reminder, you can find out all kinds of information
Speaker 6: about our program at Camp Hope as well as our
Speaker 6: outreach programs that we run across several cities across the country,
Speaker 6: as well as one on the world Wide Web. Anyone
Speaker 6: could join it ptsdusa dot org ptsdusa dot org for
Speaker 6: all the information. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll
Speaker 6: be right back with more of Road to Hope radio.
Speaker 5: See and we're welcoming back Roade to Hope. Ray, You're
Speaker 5: glad to have you along. We've got PD.
Speaker 6: Mentor and training Camp Hope, which means he graduated the
Speaker 6: program at Camp Hope, which everyone that's in our mentor
Speaker 6: program they have to be a graduate with the Camp
Speaker 6: Hope is the peer to peer model that we.
Speaker 2: Perform.
Speaker 6: We also bring in a lot of other support systems
Speaker 6: as well, professional licensed counselors on staff. Everyone in the
Speaker 6: program sees a counselor at least once a week, some
Speaker 6: multiple times in the course of the week. We have
Speaker 6: equine therapy that takes place for some of our guys
Speaker 6: and other forms as well. We've had art therapy, we
Speaker 6: had all kinds of therapy that we try to introduce
Speaker 6: the guys to why they are with us, because what
Speaker 6: one person finds extremely helpful is not necessarily what somebody
Speaker 6: else finds helpful. So we try to expose our vets
Speaker 6: to a number of opportunities while they're with us. And
Speaker 6: it's a lengthy program. Pet He mentioned he was in
Speaker 6: the program for eight months and that's basically how designed.
Speaker 6: Somewhere in the sixty nine month range, though, I will
Speaker 6: say that we've had guys take up to two years
Speaker 6: to go through the program. I had a couple of
Speaker 6: those guys and now several who've taken a little over
Speaker 6: a year. So it's a very intensive program. It is
Speaker 6: all day, every day and peer to peer, faith based,
Speaker 6: and then we bring in a lot of other support
Speaker 6: systems do everything we can to help our veterans change
Speaker 6: the trajectory of their life from the moment that they
Speaker 6: walk onto our campus. So Matthew, when did you join
Speaker 6: the Army?
Speaker 3: What year was at I joined the Army twenty twelve
Speaker 3: August twenty twelve, after my twenty second birthday. I join
Speaker 3: up Army, went to basic training and are in Fort Leanderwood, Missouri,
Speaker 3: and then got my duty station of White Sands Missile Range.
Speaker 6: Gotcha, why did you choose the Army?
Speaker 2: Well, this is kind of funny.
Speaker 3: I tried the Air Force first, and uh, well, what
Speaker 3: attract you do the Air Force? I had a lot
Speaker 3: of friends that I grew up with that went Air
Speaker 3: National Guard, and they were a year older than me,
Speaker 3: played basketball, and they just lived a life that I
Speaker 3: would see myself doing. But I went into the Air
Speaker 3: Force recruiter and within five minutes he told me I
Speaker 3: was too dumb.
Speaker 6: How nice of me?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, uh yeah.
Speaker 3: He offered to walk me over to the Navy, and
Speaker 3: I had some not some kind words for him when
Speaker 3: he said that, I.
Speaker 2: Don't know what happened.
Speaker 3: I took his card and I just walked out with
Speaker 3: my dad. And the very next day at work, air
Speaker 3: Force colonel comes into our work to rent a bacco
Speaker 3: to level out the firing range that flooded out in
Speaker 3: one of the storms. And I helped him out, I
Speaker 3: you know, talked him up into everything, and he said, son,
Speaker 3: have you ever thought about joining the forces? And I
Speaker 3: looked at my dad and he's like, go ahead and
Speaker 3: tell him. So I told him. I was like, actually,
Speaker 3: I was at the Air Force recruiters yesterday and I
Speaker 3: told him the story, handed him the card.
Speaker 2: He was not happy.
Speaker 3: So a few hours went by, a few hours went by,
Speaker 3: and the Colonel's pulling back up and I'm scratching my head,
Speaker 3: like we did all the paperwork, everything's done.
Speaker 2: What happened?
Speaker 3: Then that recruiter gets out of the car with the colonel. Oh, man,
Speaker 3: say it, I'll do whatever I can to get you
Speaker 3: in the air Force. I was like, I'm okay going
Speaker 3: to the Army.
Speaker 6: So why did you choose the Army? Then the Army.
Speaker 3: Just because my uncle had joined the Army maybe a
Speaker 3: year before I did, and I've always looked up to him, gotcha,
Speaker 3: and so I just thought that would have been the
Speaker 3: perfect route for me as well. So then I took
Speaker 3: my ASVAB and I actually got offered intelligence in the
Speaker 3: very beginning. So I took that to the Air Force recruiter.
Speaker 6: You're gonna make that one hurt, aren't you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, just a little bit, you know, look at this.
Speaker 3: But I turned it down because of the school for
Speaker 3: intelligence was forty minutes from when I went to high school,
Speaker 3: and I knew that I needed to get out of it.
Speaker 3: I wanted to get out, so I chose combat engineer.
Speaker 3: They sold me on it. They said it's it's like infantry,
Speaker 3: but with explosives. I said, perfect, nice and get to
Speaker 3: blow things up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's what I chose to go with.
Speaker 3: All right, So that was twenty twelve. Yep, when was
Speaker 3: your deployment twenty thirteen? I actually got to Afghanistan on
Speaker 3: April Fool's Day, which I thought was a sick joke
Speaker 3: because it looked just like White Sands, New Mexico. Thought
Speaker 3: that they spent twenty three hours to put me on
Speaker 3: the other side of the mountain.
Speaker 6: It tricked me. Yeah, Pete, what year did you deploy
Speaker 6: to Afghanistan?
Speaker 4: I deployed in two thousand and one, Yeah, very early.
Speaker 4: But I was a combat engineer as well. Yeah, and
Speaker 4: I eventually went to a leadership school for combat engineers
Speaker 4: called Saffar School, And it's similar to ranger school that
Speaker 4: the invantry has. It's leadership methods, small unit tactics. It's
Speaker 4: explosive intensive, you know, like basically teaches more about explosives.
Speaker 4: But yeah, So, like I've met a lot of combat
Speaker 4: engineers on camp, and it seems like one shows up
Speaker 4: like every other day that hey I was a saffer
Speaker 4: two or hey I was a combat engineer. And it's
Speaker 4: a very wide field, like because you have combat engineers
Speaker 4: that are equipment operators, you have combat engineers that do
Speaker 4: blueprints and design. So like that category of combat engineers
Speaker 4: includes a lot of different types of jobs.
Speaker 6: Sure, whereabouts were you in Afghanistan? I know one.
Speaker 4: I was mostly in a place called Cowst Gardetz. It's
Speaker 4: southwest in Afghanistan, close to the Pakistan border. Then I
Speaker 4: spent a little bit of time in Kandahar, a little
Speaker 4: bit of time in Bogram, but I spent the majority
Speaker 4: of time in that couch guards area.
Speaker 6: What part of AGNI stand where you in?
Speaker 3: I was south near the Pakistan border. Also in Gosney,
Speaker 3: I was doing Route Clarence and Gosney, just clearing routes
Speaker 3: from fob to fob and helping.
Speaker 2: Shut down some fobs as well.
Speaker 6: And how long were you there again?
Speaker 2: I did seven months?
Speaker 6: Seven months? Yeah, all right, yeah, Route Clarence sounds like
Speaker 6: a lot of fun. When's the last time you do
Speaker 6: something up legally? Twenty thirty? I want to ask you, though,
Speaker 6: what you blew up after you came home? Just a
Speaker 6: reminder we know as we go through some of these stories,
Speaker 6: some of these things can be triggering. So I want
Speaker 6: to give you our phone number eight seven seven seven
Speaker 6: one seven seventy eight seventy three eight seven seven seven
Speaker 6: one seven seventy eight seventy three. It will be answered
Speaker 6: by a combat veteran. So if you come across someone
Speaker 6: who is struggling and you know them to be a veteran,
Speaker 6: don't just tell them to check us out. Dial that number.
Speaker 6: Hand on the phone, say, look, the person who answers
Speaker 6: this phone is a guy that has been to combat.
Speaker 6: He's been through it, He's come home with the issues,
Speaker 6: and he's learned how to cope with that, how to
Speaker 6: overcome that and live a thriving life. Eight seven seven
Speaker 6: seven one seven seventy eight seventy three. Combat vet will
Speaker 6: answer the phone. It changes everything for our veterans. So
Speaker 6: please make sure you've got that. You may never need
Speaker 6: it may not be for you, but again you may
Speaker 6: come across somebody who does need our services. I got
Speaker 6: a call just just earlier today from someone reaching out
Speaker 6: wanting to hear about how do you get into Camp
Speaker 6: Hope and how does that all work? So eight seven
Speaker 6: seven seven one seven seventy eight seventy three and again
Speaker 6: PTSDUSA dot org. On the Internet. Social media is also
Speaker 6: a great way to keep in contact with us. Obviously,
Speaker 6: it's a more fluid way of communicating. We are constantly
Speaker 6: sharing upcoming events. If you'd like to get involved in supporting, volunteering,
Speaker 6: whatever it is you would like to do to be
Speaker 6: a part of the organization, there are numerous opportunities throughout
Speaker 6: the course of the year. We've got like five or
Speaker 6: six golf events still to take place in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 6: so there's a lot of those. You don't have to
Speaker 6: play golf. You can be a help with a volunteer.
Speaker 6: You can help with setting things up, taking things down.
Speaker 6: There's all kinds of opportunities. Again, PTSD USA on Facebook
Speaker 6: and on the X as well as YouTube PTSD USA
Speaker 6: PTSD USA, all right, we're going to take a quick break,
Speaker 6: be right back with more of Road to Hope radio.
Speaker 6: PET When did when did you get out of the Army?
Speaker 4: I got out in December of two thousand and nine nine.
Speaker 6: Okay, were you experiencing any of the PTSD symbols at
Speaker 6: that time or was it later on?
Speaker 4: Yes, I actually started experiencing them before my last deployment.
Speaker 4: My last deployment was to anbar province with a reserve
Speaker 4: unit doing route clearance, and I would pretty much impress
Speaker 4: upon my guys that if they needed to talk to somebody,
Speaker 4: that it wasn't a sign of weakness, and that was
Speaker 4: completely different than the message the Army was given people.
Speaker 4: And you know, experiencing what I had up to that point,
Speaker 4: I wanted to make sure the guys knew where they
Speaker 4: could turn when they came home, because they wouldn't be
Speaker 4: the same.
Speaker 6: So where did you turn when you came home?
Speaker 4: Originally the VA, but which one it was? The Huntington
Speaker 4: VA in Huntington, West Virginia, And I was given a
Speaker 4: different counselor every week. And what I eventually found out
Speaker 4: was students use it as a stopover to get credential
Speaker 4: to eventually move on. So that's why I would never
Speaker 4: see the same therapist. I would have to constantly reshare
Speaker 4: my story over and over again and eventually got frustrated
Speaker 4: with it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, what did you do next? So I'm presuming at
Speaker 6: some point you're stopping that.
Speaker 4: Oh yes, yes, I'm not going anywhere, so you just quit.
Speaker 4: I started self medicating, very hot and heavy with self medication.
Speaker 4: Eventually my marriage hit a rough spot and I self
Speaker 4: medicated even more, and eventually we split up. And yeah,
Speaker 4: I ended up experiencing all these different things and didn't
Speaker 4: know where to turn. Camp Hope is the first place
Speaker 4: that I had ever learned about or knew about that
Speaker 4: would actually provide the help that you guys help with.
Speaker 4: I mean, let alone the counseling, the peer to peer atmosphere,
Speaker 4: but even a situation I was in where I was homeless,
Speaker 4: I was without a vehicle, I was without a driver's license.
Speaker 4: A plane ticket was purchased for me and I was
Speaker 4: brought out and next thing I know, I had a
Speaker 4: place to lay my head and I had food in
Speaker 4: my stomach.
Speaker 2: So I.
Speaker 4: Got to reiterate, there's no place that I know of
Speaker 4: that's like Camp Hope.
Speaker 6: Remind me how you heard about camp.
Speaker 4: My platoon leader from my first deployment to Iraq actually
Speaker 4: came through the program in twenty seventeen, and after one
Speaker 4: of the guys we deployed with committed suicide, we all
Speaker 4: showed up to his funeral and he saw what kind
Speaker 4: of state I was in, and he kind of let
Speaker 4: me know about Camp Hope. But I wasn't ready yet.
Speaker 4: I wanted to see if I could manage myself, you know,
Speaker 4: and manage my alcoholism, managed my using. So eventually I
Speaker 4: stayed with another friend. I was living basically on his couch,
Speaker 4: and he saw that I wasn't getting any better, that
Speaker 4: I wasn't handling my issues. He eventually came to me
Speaker 4: and said, hey, I've done everything I can for you, you're
Speaker 4: gonna have to find something else. And I remember my
Speaker 4: pl telling me about Camp Hope and that's when I
Speaker 4: got the information from him and contacted Camp Hope.
Speaker 6: Gotcha, you brought something up that the story. I hear
Speaker 6: a lot guys would say, you know, we lost one
Speaker 6: or three or whatever the number is while they were deployed,
Speaker 6: and almost every time it was a multiple that guys
Speaker 6: that have lost after coming back home. I hear that
Speaker 6: all the time, which is one of the reasons why
Speaker 6: you know, we have this show. And that may sound
Speaker 6: a little weird, but we want to get the word out.
Speaker 6: Camp Hope cannot be the best kept secret in town.
Speaker 6: We have got to get the word out that it's here.
Speaker 6: It's at zero cost to you. Like you mentioned, we
Speaker 6: pick up the airline ticket, We take care of everything.
Speaker 6: You're not getting a bill while you're with us. And
Speaker 6: it's not, you know, the five star hotel, but it's nice,
Speaker 6: it's comfortable, it's clean, it's air condition to thank goodness.
Speaker 6: But we bring about everything we can, all the networking
Speaker 6: that we have built over the last thirteen years to
Speaker 6: bear to do everything we can to help our veteran population.
Speaker 6: So that's one of the reasons again why we do
Speaker 6: the show was again we ask you to hit that
Speaker 6: subscribe button wherever you listen to podcasts for Road to
Speaker 6: Hope Radio and share that because you never know who
Speaker 6: might hear about us that needs us or knows someone
Speaker 6: that needs us. So we truly do appreciate you sharing that. Matthew,
Speaker 6: you joined in twelve, you deployed in thirteen. When'd you
Speaker 6: get out?
Speaker 3: I was out at October fourteen, Okay, I when I
Speaker 3: got back from Afghanistan, I was struggling a little bit,
Speaker 3: and I was given our unit was disbanding, but I
Speaker 3: had got myself into a little bit of trouble and
Speaker 3: I got a seventy two hour notice to turn my
Speaker 3: stuff in and call it a day.
Speaker 6: So I don't need to get into that. But what
Speaker 6: were some of the things that were affecting you from
Speaker 6: your time in combat?
Speaker 2: I was loosing sleep.
Speaker 3: I was having you know, night terrors and things of
Speaker 3: that nature.
Speaker 2: And I at.
Speaker 3: The time, I didn't want to talk to anybody about
Speaker 3: it because you know, I didn't want to be seen differently,
Speaker 3: because I didn't want to move from my platoon. I
Speaker 3: didn't want any of that, and so I just shoved
Speaker 3: it down deep and started drinking a lot, not really
Speaker 3: talking about it. I really haven't talked about it until
Speaker 3: I got to Camp Hope. And I'm so blessed to
Speaker 3: be here, Like it's the most beautiful place I've been.
Speaker 3: It's the only time I've ever really truly asked for help.
Speaker 3: Took me eleven twelve years to ask. But I am very,
Speaker 3: very thankful, and I can't thank Camp Hope enough for
Speaker 3: what they've done for me.
Speaker 6: How did you hear about us?
Speaker 3: It came across my algorithm on Instagram. My grandma had
Speaker 3: sent me a Bible because I was struggling. She knew
Speaker 3: I was struggling. I had just lost my car. I
Speaker 3: was about to be evicted from my apartment. Well I
Speaker 3: did get evicted from my apartment, but I was reading
Speaker 3: the Bible here and there, and one day Camp Hope
Speaker 3: was on my phone and I decided i'd click on it,
Speaker 3: and I did, and I felt out the information on it,
Speaker 3: thinking I was just going to add to their statistics,
Speaker 3: you know what PTSD is. And within eight hours I
Speaker 3: got a phone call from an outreach and they explained
Speaker 3: to me what Camp Hope was, and I thought about
Speaker 3: it for a couple hours, and I called him right
Speaker 3: back and said, I'm in.
Speaker 2: I surrender.
Speaker 3: I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, you know.
Speaker 3: So I went to court on my eviction. I had
Speaker 3: to be out on a certain date, but I wasn't
Speaker 3: able to get to Camp Hope till certain days, so
Speaker 3: they let me stay in my apartment, thankfully, until I
Speaker 3: got to Camp Hope at the end of May.
Speaker 2: No p that.
Speaker 6: I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've heard that
Speaker 6: a guy actually finding it on his own.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 6: I don't know if I've ever heard that story. Over
Speaker 6: twenty three hundred guys coming into our program, it's almost
Speaker 6: always a family member or somebody that served with like
Speaker 6: you and your story. It may be a judge or whatever,
Speaker 6: social worker at one of the VA hospitals. I don't
Speaker 6: know if I've ever found it that I have they
Speaker 6: found it on their own.
Speaker 4: I absolutely believe that God gives you the messages you
Speaker 4: need when you need to hear them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how I took it.
Speaker 3: And I think because my grandma, you know, my grandma
Speaker 3: sent me that Bible meant like I had nothing in
Speaker 3: my life going for me except for that Bible, and
Speaker 3: I would read it. I'm not saying I read it
Speaker 3: every day, but I would open it up and something
Speaker 3: popped and I was starting to get help with the
Speaker 3: VET Center. But when I brought Camp Hope to his attention,
Speaker 3: he didn't even know what Camp Hope was. So he's like,
Speaker 3: I'm going to look into it and see what I
Speaker 3: can do. And he's like, I'm gonna look into other
Speaker 3: pro for you also, and he came back to me
Speaker 3: and he's like, I love this Camp Hope.
Speaker 2: I did that you have.
Speaker 3: So I went for it, and like I said, I
Speaker 3: couldn't be more thankful and blessed that.
Speaker 2: I am where I'm at today.
Speaker 6: Well, we're glad you're here. And again ptsd usa dot
Speaker 6: org has all of the information forms to simple forms
Speaker 6: you can fill out to get someone to reach out
Speaker 6: to you and answer any questions you might have about
Speaker 6: Camp Hope. And again, not everybody needs or is willing
Speaker 6: to do a Camp Hope program something that's as lengthy
Speaker 6: as our program is. But there are weekly support groups
Speaker 6: that we run again across the country and online that
Speaker 6: you can join in from anywhere. PTSDUSA dot org. Put
Speaker 6: the bottle down, pick up the phone, be the best
Speaker 6: thing you ever do. PTSDUSA dot org. All right, we'll
Speaker 6: be right back with more of Roade.
Speaker 2: Hope Radio.
Speaker 6: Talk with Matthew United States Army that currently in our
Speaker 6: program at Camp Hope. You mentioned you're almost homeless and
Speaker 6: you're going to be removed from your apartment. Before you
Speaker 6: got here, h was what was your situation with your
Speaker 6: family at that time.
Speaker 3: I had just recently moved to Austin, Texas from Florida
Speaker 3: to work for a company that my mom works.
Speaker 2: For, and.
Speaker 3: I had put her in a position to have to
Speaker 3: fire me, unfortunately because of my alcoholism.
Speaker 2: So it was strained.
Speaker 3: You know, They've all always been asking me to seek
Speaker 3: out help, and it wasn't until I had to have
Speaker 3: her fire me. Basically, did I finally go to the
Speaker 3: VA for the first time since I've been out or
Speaker 3: to the vet center? You know, when I went to
Speaker 3: the Vet Center and it was very helpful for the time.
Speaker 2: I was there.
Speaker 3: For a couple of months before I decided Camp Hope
Speaker 3: was where I needed to go. Did the VA diagnose you, Yeah,
Speaker 3: they've diagnosed me with chronic PTSD and amongst depression, anxiety,
Speaker 3: substance abuse.
Speaker 6: So in response to the multiple diagnosis, which is very common,
Speaker 6: or at least in our in our place, is very common,
Speaker 6: what did they what was the response? Will they do.
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: I mean, I just recently have gotten all this diagnosis
Speaker 3: in the last month or two, but I have. I'm
Speaker 3: on a little bit of medication now to help me
Speaker 3: with the night terrors and things of that nature. Which
Speaker 3: are you know, it's working. I'm sleeping like a kid again.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: Before I came, I was living in a one bedroom apartment,
Speaker 3: but terrified to sleep in my own bed. I felt
Speaker 3: safer on my couch. So now I yeah, I sleep
Speaker 3: through the whole night.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I wake up here and there with like little pains,
Speaker 3: but I can fall right back asleep.
Speaker 6: Did you struggle with any like the night terrors or
Speaker 6: anything like that?
Speaker 4: Yes, I did. And what was really difficult about it
Speaker 4: was while I was married, my wife at the time
Speaker 4: was exposed to it, and I think I inadvertently inflicted
Speaker 4: secondary PTSD upon her. And it's just an outcome that happens.
Speaker 4: When you suffer from PTSD. You expose your significant other
Speaker 4: and your children and they develop, you know, certain triggers
Speaker 4: and things of that sort in response to you having PTSD.
Speaker 4: And yeah, the night terrors for me really affected my wife.
Speaker 4: And there was situations where you know, I would wake
Speaker 4: up from a dead sleep and next thing you know,
Speaker 4: I'd be looking for my weapon and she'd have to
Speaker 4: calm me down and explain to me that I wasn't
Speaker 4: overseas anymore.
Speaker 6: And so.
Speaker 4: Having healthy sleeping habits has helped also finally processing my emotions.
Speaker 4: So doing that in my waking hours, processing my emotions
Speaker 4: really has an effect on what I dream about.
Speaker 3: How long have you been at camp now, Matthew up
Speaker 3: towards the I'm towards the end of my third month. Okay,
Speaker 3: today is my fourth day or fourth month sober today.
Speaker 6: It's very cool, that's awesome. So in that time frame,
Speaker 6: obviously four months, you still got some waste to go
Speaker 6: in the program, but it's in then that time time frame.
Speaker 6: What are you learning? What's changing for you? How's your attitude?
Speaker 6: How's your your drive when you wake up in the
Speaker 6: morning for the for the day to come.
Speaker 3: I mean as night and day compared to where it was.
Speaker 3: I get up every morning now and I go to
Speaker 3: the gym. I to get my days started. You know,
Speaker 3: I have like a little checklist and I you know,
Speaker 3: when I first got here, I was very quiet. I
Speaker 3: never shared in class. I sat in the corner, you know,
Speaker 3: like in the back of the classroom, like the kid
Speaker 3: that did not want to talk, did not want to
Speaker 3: be picked on.
Speaker 2: Nothing.
Speaker 3: But now, you know, listening to all the guys that
Speaker 3: are there and not being afraid to share my story
Speaker 3: or afraid to share what I'm going through has helped
Speaker 3: me out immensely. Just getting that those those weights off
Speaker 3: my shoulders crazy.
Speaker 2: It feels so good.
Speaker 3: You know, it's difficult at times, but at the end
Speaker 3: of it, it feels great. And then at the end
Speaker 3: of the day, getting to check that last thing off
Speaker 3: my checklist of saying sober.
Speaker 2: Did I stay sober today? Yes? I did?
Speaker 3: That's the best part.
Speaker 6: There a moment, maybe it's in a group on the
Speaker 6: sport groups, maybe it's in a class, maybe sitting around
Speaker 6: the fire with other guys that are in the program.
Speaker 6: At the times there's been something that really kind of
Speaker 6: stood out to you that and that click that really
Speaker 6: helped me understand or that might help me better.
Speaker 2: Cope.
Speaker 3: Yeah, understanding what these Warrior groups are that we do
Speaker 3: twice a week has helped me out tremendously.
Speaker 2: Just the peer to peer sharing.
Speaker 3: You know our troubles and it's like being with a
Speaker 3: small squat, like a small squat or your platoon again
Speaker 3: and everybody's got everybody's back, and just the family bond
Speaker 3: you build with these guys again, like I said, it's
Speaker 3: like being back in the platoon. It's it feels amazing.
Speaker 6: And Pet, you mentioned some the struggles you had and
Speaker 6: it involved your wife and passing on some what's called
Speaker 6: secondary PTSD, which is an actual diagnosis. A lot of
Speaker 6: I think a lot of Vietnam VET children deal with
Speaker 6: that and they don't know it, but that's what they're
Speaker 6: dealing with. But it's an important point just to simply
Speaker 6: bring up. We not only serve veterans combat veterans, we
Speaker 6: also serve their families. So there's a We've got a
Speaker 6: great group of folks who that's their jobs to help families. Understand,
Speaker 6: and when I say family, it can be spouse, be parents, siblings,
Speaker 6: it gonna be friends, just somebody that actually cares as
Speaker 6: is involved in the person's life and is not going
Speaker 6: to walk away. We want to help them understand what
Speaker 6: happened to their loved one, what PTSD is doing, and
Speaker 6: how it looks. And sometimes yes, it can feel very personal,
Speaker 6: sometimes can feel very much uh directed at leat at
Speaker 6: directly at you, and that's not necessarily the point. So
Speaker 6: if you are a family member, a friend, someone that's
Speaker 6: struggling and you just you're not sure what to do,
Speaker 6: You're not sure how to help you. You don't want
Speaker 6: to hurt or add to the struggle again, go to
Speaker 6: our website PTSD USA dot org. Reach out to us
Speaker 6: eight three two nine one two four four two nine.
Speaker 6: Is our office number eight three two nine one two
Speaker 6: four four two nine, and our family support team will
Speaker 6: be very happy to help you. And as with everything
Speaker 6: in our organization, it's all at zero cost. But we
Speaker 6: want to help you who want to help you, help
Speaker 6: your veteran, your hero. So again PTSD USA dot org
Speaker 6: and the office numbers eight three two nine one two
Speaker 6: four four two nine. We're out of time, but now
Speaker 6: ifew what do you just real quickly, what are you
Speaker 6: looking forward to when you get done? Do you know yet?
Speaker 6: You may not know yet, And that's fine too.
Speaker 3: Right now, yeah, right now, I just take it day
Speaker 3: by day, sometimes hour by hour if I have to,
Speaker 3: But I have no timeline on myself at the moment.
Speaker 2: I do have.
Speaker 3: A job lined up, I believe when I finish Camp Hope,
Speaker 3: but I don't. I'm not putting any rush on leaving camp.
Speaker 6: Yeap, do the work while you have the opportunity. Yeah,
Speaker 6: well you can. Yeah, get everything out of this you
Speaker 6: possibly can. Thanks for sharing some of your story. Thanks
Speaker 6: for joining us today, Pet, Thank you for joining us
Speaker 6: today and for what you do every single day to
Speaker 6: help help your brothers. Extremely grateful, PTSD USA dot org.
Speaker 6: Road to Hope Radio wherever you listen to podcasts, thanks
Speaker 6: for joining us. Look forward to being with you again
Speaker 6: next week for more of Road to Hope Radio.
Speaker 2: Female of the mamm