TREAD VERY LIGHTLY AS YOU WALK THROUGH LIFE

Tread very lightly as you walk through life
For life is taken for granted far to often
You never know what is around the corner

Whether in wars fought across the oceans
Where the enemy had struck you suddenly
Out of the darkness of a moonless night

When they hit our bases with mortar rounds
Then for good measure lobbed in a few more
Our hearts raced as we'd tried to spot them

Watching for the muzzle flashes of their tubes
Yet at the same time you'd duck their shrapnel
Razor sharp pieces of exploding white hot metal

Sometimes it lasted just a few minutes or so
But there were nights it lasted for an eternity
As they dropped in more and more rounds on us

After going home you still didn't really feel safe
As you were trying to fit back into stateside duty
There were these nightmares that visited you often

You didn't want anyone to know what happened to you
And had you seeked out help in dealing with it all
You were afraid you'd be labeled as just a nut case

So you just kept it buried deep and faced it alone
After seperating and coming home it was always there
Terrifying memories that visited you during the night

You'd become a walking time bomb just ticking away
You knew you wouldn't be able to deal with it alone
Do you seek out some help or put an end to your pain

There were many reasons not to take the easy way out
My family would never have been able to deal with it
They had never understood the nightmare I was living

Knowing I could no longer handle the PTSD all alone
I swallowed my pride and I sought out the VA's help
It's been a very long hard battle to deal with PTSD

The other alternative would've destroyed my family
Ending my life would've left them scarred for life
And it would have damned my own soul for eternity


© Terry Sasek - Always A Warrior - all rights reserved.


Everyone has their own demons to deal with from
their service in Vietnam and Thailand and each of
us handles it in our own ways, but until you take
that first step to seek out help no one can help you
deal with it.

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