I have a comment saved about what a soldier goes through when they come back No he's not alright. You go to war then you come back and people expect you to just be normal and function in society again like nothing fucking happened. Then you just keep your mouth shut about war and then someone some day asks you about it like they are going to have a chat. "Hey Shane I didn't know you went to Iraq, why didn't you say something, my friend joined boot camp but hurt his ankle so came home early. What was it like over there?"

Now you find yourself thinking about the question, but you say something like "I've had better days." Then laugh as you try to push those thoughts deep down inside of you. Then you continue your day and some jerk cuts you off on the freeway and man he really pissed you off like he meant to do that shit, so you follow him to his destination and you get out and you fight this guy in front of his kids and it's completely justified in your mind because he fucking did that on purpose.

So then you leave and you don't get caught but as you drive away you feel so stupid like "Why did I just do that?" But you just continue on not even connecting the fact that Brian talking about war earlier picked a scab.

You do things over seas to survive, those things save your life. When you get home you don't need those skills but you can't just toss them aside because you flew across the ocean. Nope you keep those thoughts and emotions. You won't ever "get over" war you find ways to "cope" and some war vet's ways of coping are turning to drugs, alcohol and even suicide.

You go over seas thinking "Yeah America, we're fighting to make a difference." A few weeks in you're thinking "This? THIS? This is what we're fucking fighting for? It's all bullshit, we're out here dying for this shit?" It makes you really think about stuff.

Then you make it back and everyone is happy to see you "Shane good to see you man, we missed you." But you're numb by that point just consumed. And if you were fortunate enough (like me) not to lose a brother or sister while over there then that's one less thing you think about.

But there are guys who hug their wives and children and think "I shouldn't be here, Davis should have made it not me, it wasn't his turn to be a gunner but I was tired so he took my shift and let me rest." These guys deal with this shit all day, and their families will NEVER understand... or at least that's what we all think. The stuff some service members did to survive are things they will never share with their spouses. How could you look your wife in the eye and say "I should be dead, I think about Davis and how he died." Or "I killed a boy who was around the same age as our daughter, I thought he had a gun and it was my first raid so I shot because I was scared."

When I was over seas I used to wake up and tell myself "Soon this will all be a distant memory, soon." It's been 5 years and I am still saying that.

(Sorry for the rant) Probably should tag /u/_-mac-_

Edit: I replied to a comment about "What happened to the guy you beat up?" TL;DR I never beat a guy up due to road rage, it was an example and many vets struggle behind the wheel.