[Music]
[Applause]
December 3rd 2005 it’s a cold Chris day
in Iraq me and my platoon of 20 warriors
is coming off a mission hunting
insurgents we’re dirty and tired to the
point of delirium the rest of the 70 men
in our company are back at the base
sleeping soundly and we can’t wait to
join them and it’s a long dusty road on
the way back home it’s quiet as we pull
up and park our trucks and just as we
step out boom boom boom mortar rounds
the size of footballs start falling
directly with the other men are sleeping
immediately we rush into the trailers
get up get up get up get to the bunkers
get to the bunkers get to the bunkers as
I’m pounding on doors I stop and I think
of my friend Jimmy where’s Jimmy I
rushed over to Jimmy’s room i powered
open the door the air is filled with
smoke
the sounds of wounded men and the smell
of burning flesh like burnt hair that
smell it always smells the same
regardless of whether you’re a man woman
child regardless of your race religion
or ethnicity it always smells the same
days I rush out and start looking for
help just then the medics arrive rush
into the room it’s chaos and I can’t be
of any more help so I go and I get
accountability in my men I head back to
my trailer and I try to lay down
several hours later I get a knock on my
door
it’s my section sergeant telling me what
I already know that my good friend Jimmy
is dead dazed and in shock I just start
to laugh until I look over and see one
of my soldiers with his head slumped
against a Humvee steering wheel tears
running down his face there’s nothing
funny when a warrior cries several hours
later the men that were closest to Jimmy
started to gather around
we sat told stories like when Jimmy
would walk into a crowded restaurant and
just yeah we’re me and everyone was
laugh you know and then we just went
back to our trailers laid down tried to
get some sleep woke up in the morning
went on our next mission because that’s
what we do we ignore the pain we suck it
up and drive on nobody ever came to
check on us ask us how we were feeling
how we were doing there was no chaplain
or therapist psychologist no one because
we’re warriors we don’t need that we
don’t ask for help and if you do ask for
help then that means you’re broken it
means you don’t want to be a warrior
anymore you want to go home
that was my third and final tour the
military breaks you down as an
individual and builds you up as part of
a squad it teaches you to adapt and
overcome in some of the worst situations
a human being could possibly face and
never ask for help yet the deep scars
that we carry physically emotionally and
psychologically they never go away for
us the war doesn’t end once we get home
and the only way to get help is to ask
for it and this broken system has been
well documented since at least the
Vietnam War in that conflict over 58,000
American warriors lost their lives in
battle and another hundred and fifty
thousand took their own lives after
returning home today we lose six
thousand seven hundred and twenty
veterans a year to suicide that’s five
hundred and sixty a month 140 a week and
twenty a day is it their fault
no because there’s a stigma associated
with seeking mental health care mental
health issues are a sign of weakness in
a culture that’s built on strength as a
veteran one of the hardest things I’ve
ever had to do was ask for help because
of the stigma
who doesn’t know a veteran perhaps your
father your grandfather your son your
mother your sister your neighbor a
co-worker someone its veterans all
around us veterans issues affect us all
warriors support everyone we need
everyone’s support there’s a few things
that can happen in the military it’s
essential to establish mandatory mental
health checkups for every man and woman
regardless of rank but in order to do
this we need to put a system in place in
the military someone’s in charge of
everything and no one’s in charge of
mental health someone’s in charge of
staples and no one’s in charge of mental
health
this isn’t about softening up our
nation’s military this is about building
a fighting force of sound mind and body
so what can we do well thankfully
there’s over 40,000 veteran service
organizations working to empower
veterans and their families across the
country and they can sure use your
support a lot of veterans service
organizations working in this community
and many others and we can discuss the
idea of stigma the idea of mental health
care and fully reintegrate our nation’s
warriors and help them identify a new
identity mission meaning and purpose
while we focus on the three pillars of
health of mind body and spirit in a
nation that is so divided on so many
issues this is one issue
well we can all stand together and say
no more but in order to do that we have
to redefine what strength is I’ve always
been a lawyer and I always will be and
as sergeant Rodriguez in the 101st
Airborne Division I associated strength
with fierce determination and extreme
violence of action never giving up at
any cost
but now as a father as an entrepreneur I
associate strength with being honest and
open about my human vulnerabilities my
weaknesses and learning from people with
vastly different life experiences
because this is how we end stigma and
when we end stigma we save lives
so as we shift form from warriors in
battle to Warriors beyond the battle
please remember that the health of our
bodies and our minds is worth fighting
for and that we are not broken thank you
you
[Applause]
December 3rd 2005 it’s a cold Chris day
in Iraq me and my platoon of 20 warriors
is coming off a mission hunting
insurgents we’re dirty and tired to the
point of delirium the rest of the 70 men
in our company are back at the base
sleeping soundly and we can’t wait to
join them and it’s a long dusty road on
the way back home it’s quiet as we pull
up and park our trucks and just as we
step out boom boom boom mortar rounds
the size of footballs start falling
directly with the other men are sleeping
immediately we rush into the trailers
get up get up get up get to the bunkers
get to the bunkers get to the bunkers as
I’m pounding on doors I stop and I think
of my friend Jimmy where’s Jimmy I
rushed over to Jimmy’s room i powered
open the door the air is filled with
smoke
the sounds of wounded men and the smell
of burning flesh like burnt hair that
smell it always smells the same
regardless of whether you’re a man woman
child regardless of your race religion
or ethnicity it always smells the same
days I rush out and start looking for
help just then the medics arrive rush
into the room it’s chaos and I can’t be
of any more help so I go and I get
accountability in my men I head back to
my trailer and I try to lay down
several hours later I get a knock on my
door
it’s my section sergeant telling me what
I already know that my good friend Jimmy
is dead dazed and in shock I just start
to laugh until I look over and see one
of my soldiers with his head slumped
against a Humvee steering wheel tears
running down his face there’s nothing
funny when a warrior cries several hours
later the men that were closest to Jimmy
started to gather around
we sat told stories like when Jimmy
would walk into a crowded restaurant and
just yeah we’re me and everyone was
laugh you know and then we just went
back to our trailers laid down tried to
get some sleep woke up in the morning
went on our next mission because that’s
what we do we ignore the pain we suck it
up and drive on nobody ever came to
check on us ask us how we were feeling
how we were doing there was no chaplain
or therapist psychologist no one because
we’re warriors we don’t need that we
don’t ask for help and if you do ask for
help then that means you’re broken it
means you don’t want to be a warrior
anymore you want to go home
that was my third and final tour the
military breaks you down as an
individual and builds you up as part of
a squad it teaches you to adapt and
overcome in some of the worst situations
a human being could possibly face and
never ask for help yet the deep scars
that we carry physically emotionally and
psychologically they never go away for
us the war doesn’t end once we get home
and the only way to get help is to ask
for it and this broken system has been
well documented since at least the
Vietnam War in that conflict over 58,000
American warriors lost their lives in
battle and another hundred and fifty
thousand took their own lives after
returning home today we lose six
thousand seven hundred and twenty
veterans a year to suicide that’s five
hundred and sixty a month 140 a week and
twenty a day is it their fault
no because there’s a stigma associated
with seeking mental health care mental
health issues are a sign of weakness in
a culture that’s built on strength as a
veteran one of the hardest things I’ve
ever had to do was ask for help because
of the stigma
who doesn’t know a veteran perhaps your
father your grandfather your son your
mother your sister your neighbor a
co-worker someone its veterans all
around us veterans issues affect us all
warriors support everyone we need
everyone’s support there’s a few things
that can happen in the military it’s
essential to establish mandatory mental
health checkups for every man and woman
regardless of rank but in order to do
this we need to put a system in place in
the military someone’s in charge of
everything and no one’s in charge of
mental health someone’s in charge of
staples and no one’s in charge of mental
health
this isn’t about softening up our
nation’s military this is about building
a fighting force of sound mind and body
so what can we do well thankfully
there’s over 40,000 veteran service
organizations working to empower
veterans and their families across the
country and they can sure use your
support a lot of veterans service
organizations working in this community
and many others and we can discuss the
idea of stigma the idea of mental health
care and fully reintegrate our nation’s
warriors and help them identify a new
identity mission meaning and purpose
while we focus on the three pillars of
health of mind body and spirit in a
nation that is so divided on so many
issues this is one issue
well we can all stand together and say
no more but in order to do that we have
to redefine what strength is I’ve always
been a lawyer and I always will be and
as sergeant Rodriguez in the 101st
Airborne Division I associated strength
with fierce determination and extreme
violence of action never giving up at
any cost
but now as a father as an entrepreneur I
associate strength with being honest and
open about my human vulnerabilities my
weaknesses and learning from people with
vastly different life experiences
because this is how we end stigma and
when we end stigma we save lives
so as we shift form from warriors in
battle to Warriors beyond the battle
please remember that the health of our
bodies and our minds is worth fighting
for and that we are not broken thank you
you
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