Tim and Laura Kahlor have fought a series of adjustments that may either seem strange or familiar to military families. Tim felt that it all part of joke when his doctor prescribed him with anti–depressants to help him cope with his son’s illness. He and his wife have become opposed to war because until now they are still being inhabited with their son’s physical and emotional breakdown.
Tim’s patriotism arose after the 9/11 terrorist attacks but turned against war after their son Ryan complained about his first tour having an ineffective body armor and poorly armored vehicles. Laura his wife had blamed the war for their son’s condition and they just wished that they never allowed Ryan to enlist in the army.
For the past several months, both husband and wife are still bitter while their son floated and at the same time are pleading with both the military for an effective post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Ryan. Tim felt guilty for helping his son get into the military driving him to the local Army recruiting office to sign up after the 9/11. They were proud of their son’s determination in serving his country.
But when Army Sergeant Ryan Kahlor returned home from two combats tours in Iraq he was never the same again. He had a detached retina, a ruptured disc, headaches, memory lapses, and numbness in his arms. Fluid seeped from his ears and was diagnosed of PTSD and traumatic brain injury. He was violent and suicidal and carries a gun wherever he goes. Turned to alcohol and drank until he falls asleep. Ryan cut himself, burned his skin with cigarettes and bit his tongue and watched it bleed.
Tim recalls telephoning and writing the Pentagon and Congress about shortage on equipments of soldiers in Iraq when Ryan wrote them about it. Laura sent her son a hand–held GPS device because the military’s devices kept on failing.
All the support on Ryan’s military career went down the drain when their son came back a stranger. Tim knew that he had to do something about it and have to focus on his son’s deteriorating mental and physical condition. He talks about the delays on treatment because Ryan was placed on desk duty and seeing his son unable to perform simple work because of his brain injuries and violent outburst is something that is hard to bear.
Both Tim and Laura were faced with the pain of seeing a son that is no longer himself and they both know that they need to be strong for him to get through his mental and psychological condition. This is the time they need to be stronger for their son and their family. They helped and pushed Ryan get into treatment and supported him all the way.
Now, Ryan had gotten better and plans to go to university and quit the Army. If Tim and Laura didn’t hold on to their son’s well being, Ryan could have been one of those soldiers who committed suicide because of the trauma he had experience in war.
The US is known to be a powerful country but it is shameful to know that their soldiers lack equipments considering that they are risking their lives for their country. What happened to Tim’s letter to the Pentagon? Did they notice it? How can America expect his soldiers to win the battle if their soldiers lack the equipment they need?
How many more Tim and Laura, wives and husbands who have to go through an ordeal that they have never experience before. Yes, the war is cruel but you need to be tougher to face its aftermath and the government had to be more helpful and supportive of their soldiers when they get home. They should not keep them waiting because these soldiers didn’t let them wait when they called on them.
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