I Don't Understand, 1996, by Brigid Freymuller

From MemoryArchive

Who: Brigid Freymuller
What: Friend's Experience in the Air Force
When: 1996
Where: Saudi Arabia

A friend of mine enlisted in the Air Force a month before he graduated from high school in 1994. After basic training, he was assigned to a supply unit and sent to Saudi Arabia for two years. In 1996, terrorists bombed Khobar Towers, barracks that housed US servicemen; among them, my friend.

For years I had known that he had served in Saudi Arabia, but never knew the much of the details. All I knew was that he had been stationed there and the experience "really changed him." When he returned to the US, he spent years in counseling because "something over there" had "f***ed" with him. Then, following 9-11, he became more vocal about his experience in Saudi Arabia. He is the only living person I know who has seen the effects of war firsthand.

While it is clear that an incident of this nature will change someone, understanding how one recovers from this level of trauma is not. I realize that conflict is part of being human, but I do not understand why our nature insists on it.