Hidden wounds of war: One man's fight with mental, spiritual fitness
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany - --
"The brave men and women, who serve their country and as a result, live constantly with the war inside them, exist in a world of chaos. But the turmoil they experience isn't who they are; the PTSD invades their minds and bodies."
-Robert Koger, Author
One of those brave men went off to war to combat the physical enemies that threaten the U.S. and allied forces. While in combat he received physical wounds, only to discover when he returned home he had also received the hidden wounds of war. This is the story of U.S. Army veteran and Air Force spouse, Daniel Titus.
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According to the National Institutes of Health, PTSD affects more than 7.7 million people.
"It's an anxiety order," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Joel Foster, 52nd Medical Operations Squadron mental health flight commander. "It's one of the few disorders where we know what causes it. We know the enology of it, because it has to do with some kind of traumatic event in the person's life."
Before he left for war, Titus was just a regular person trying to make a normal life.
"I was someone who somebody could talk to," said Titus. "I was a fairly loving person, who enjoyed doing a lot of stuff."
Titus enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 2001 because he wanted to pursue a proud tradition.
"I wanted to join to follow in my brother's footsteps," he said.
After enlisting in the U.S. Army Reserves, he left on a deployment to Iraq. It was during this deployment that his life would change forever.
"The day the IED went off we were coming back from a three- or four-day mission," Titus said. "We were number two in line in a five vehicle convoy ... The explosion went off."