We were robbed of a basic human right and are now expected to behave like the humans that weren’t robbed, and that makes me so angry.

I'm kind of the same. My parents all got out before/because I was born (I'm pretty confident that I was my mother's ticket out of the Gulf War.) but my mother, father, and stepfather were all Marines, the latter a Force Recon Gulf War veteran with a Purple Heart and a police officer for something like eight years. He's legit, by the way, because I've only seen him talk about it once or twice with others who were there.

Speaking of my mother and stepfather, she was a violent fucking psycho and the Marines just sharpened her knives. Her rage sent my stepfather running to his (also crazy) mommy; where were we kids supposed to go? You want to talk moral injury? I (while brainwashed and stupid) pointed a loaded gun at my sister, threatened to kill her, meant it, and very quickly learned a lesson in right and wrong and what a piece of shit I was. I was nine years old.

All that said, all of the current/former military I've spoken to have been extremely helpful and understanding. I never served but was immersed enough to find Generation Kill and Terminal Lance funny and when I describe my family situation in that lingo I'm usually greeted with something along the lines "Oh shit, I'm sorry you went through that" because even if it wasn't their experience they had seen enough of that type.

/r/CPTSD Thread Parent