Terraka Garner
Life Editor
Imagine yourself walking around campus, insecure and unsure of what to do, how to feel and how to act. Visualize yourself constantly fighting a battle within your mind, constantly having flashbacks and constantly reliving your past traumatic experiences. Assume you’ve had undeniable structure in your life for years on end, down to being told what to wear and when to wake up and then suddenly, you’re alone, on your own with nothing but the law to follow. Suppose you are a military veteran.
Jodi Dunn, a graduate student and an instructor of sociology for Idaho State University, served in the Army starting in February of 2005 until February of 2009. He began basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, continuing to Fort Lee, Virginia where he was launched into his job training as a cook in the Army and was then stationed in Hawaii on active duty, eventually being deployed to Iraq. He believes people commonly misconstrue what it means to come out of the military with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
“Well, it depends on how bad it is, but I think [PTSD] can impact relationships. It can impact the types of jobs they can have and how they interact with certain types of people and if they’re even going to be able to really function in life,” said Dunn. “To me, it’s like when your mind isn’t healthy. There’s certain things that you’ve experienced that traumatized you that don’t allow you to function on what is considered a normal level like where you’re not able to go out in public and just interact with people without any reservations.”
According to Dunn, people often believe PTSD to be an unreal disorder. He said there are some cases where someone will fake the disorder in order to receive military benefits if the person is financially unstable and according to him, this person ruins the idea that there may be a real disorder in the eyes of society.
Dunn reportedly has his own struggles from serving in the army.
“I don’t like to be out like in large groups of people for very long, like especially if they’re a bunch of strange people. I don’t like to be touched or have weird people I don’t know behind me,” he explained. “Like, around the Saudi students and stuff like that, I kind of am really cautious around them, just watching them. The hijabs kind of make me nervous too.”
Struggles like these can allegedly be addressed by approaching the students, faculty or staff within the ISU Veteran Sanctuary. The sanctuary offers case management, counseling, rehab, quiet rooms to study, quiet rooms for test taking, academic advising, a place to sleep, professional clothing, free internet access, free couch space, free printing and endless support.
“The Veteran Sanctuary is a very amazing place. If a veteran gets out of the military, they will come here and they’ll go to the front desk and say ‘hey, I would like to go to school,” said Cory Cox, president of the veterans club. “We have a checklist for all of them; we will hold their hands A to Z.”
Cox served in the army for four years until enduring a head injury over seas, causing him to medically retire. Prior to joining the Army, Cox said he was a drug addict, homeless on the streets of Las Vegas, begging for change.
“One day I asked the wrong person and he pushed me on the ground and said ‘don’t you touch me or get near my kid.’ I didn’t think his son was near him,” said Cox. “I specifically remember having an epiphany sitting on the ground and I was like ‘Hey man, I’m having a hard time and they got me on the bus like a week later and I was in basic training. I can’t say that all veterans are like that but if it wasn’t for that, I would probably be in prison or murdered like the rest of my friends in Las Vegas.”
Loss of structure, according to both Cox and Dunn, is among one of the biggest problems in the life of a military veteran.
“You just get thrown out to the wolves, you don’t know what to do,” said Dunn.
“You know, like ‘where do we have to be next Sergeant?” said Cox. “Yeah, great, okay. We would listen, but when kids get out and they don’t get out on retirement, they just get kicked out then there is that void there. I think it not only leads to a lot of suicides but to a lot of kids dropping out and a lot of kids failing, so yeah I think the structure being ripped away and not being there, that’s something that people struggle with whether they have PTSD or not. The Veterans Sanctuary helps with that.”
The Veterans Sanctuary is located on the third floor of the student union building near the Salmon River Suites. Students may call 208-282-4245, walk in between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or email ude.usinull@snaretev for more information.
