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Assistant Chaplain
"That's the life you have in the aftermath, and that's something you have to learn how to live with it, after you've been through war."
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By Ivan Medina
I remember a specific incident where two vehicles got into an accident, and one soldier was pinned into that vehicle. And myself and my chaplain were talking to him, knowing well that he was going to die. I looked at him and I said, you'll be okay, now you'll be able to take care of your family from where you are. So it takes a lot, it takes a big toll on you emotionally, and I had to keep doing my job and talking to soldiers and I kept a lot of the feelings inside of me.
And for young people it's even harder, because you are the ones on the front lines, because you are going to be the lower ranking personnel there, and usually, you're the first one to see everything. And when we get back to the United States or to our home base, it is my job to try to help you.
I was sent home, and my twin brother Irving was still in Baghdad. I'll never forget how I got the news when my brother was killed. I was on the phone with a friend coming out of the post office, when an incoming call came in, and it was my sister, and I clicked over, and I was like, Yeah, Jen, what do you want? And she said, go home, and call me.
And I said Why? And she said, just go home and call me. And I said, It's Irving isn't it? She's like, Yes. He's dead, isn't he? And she said yes. And I dropped my phone and I just said, please tell me this is not true.
She did not need to tell me he was dead. That's the wonderful, or not so wonderful part about being a twin. You know every moment of your twin, when he's suffering, when he's dying, when he has left you.
You have to talk about things. It helps me grieve, and it's helped soldiers along with me. That's the life you have in the aftermath, and that's something you have to learn how to live with it, after you've been through war.
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