My name is Rick Shaw and I’m a US Marine Corps Veteran.
I served as an instructor with two deployments to Iraq between January 2003 to June 2011 and was medically separated due to injuries and PTSD. Both my grandfather and father served. Thomas Richard Shaw served in WWII in the Army and is pictured here on his 90th birthday earlier this month. My father, Richard James Shaw, who is pictured right after boot camp, served in the Navy during Vietnam, however, died in 1986 and was only 38 years old. I was only five at the time. I’m confident that he would be proud of me today.
I battled silently with PTSD for just over seven years and almost got to the point of committing suicide. If not for the help of my wife, I’m sure that I would have by now! Since getting the help that I needed, I have started going back to college. I go to Bladen Community College studying the criminal justice program. The president of that college is Dr. William Findt who is sitting in the photo behind me, and asked me to give A speech for Veterans Day. It was geared towards my struggle with PTSD and the feedback was amazing! I have not given any other speeches since then, however it is something that I have considered doing more of. It was extremely therapeutic for me as well as a lot of the audience!
“As I gain new strength to carry on
Without a doubt or fear,
Somehow I know things will be right,
And so I persevere.”
~Anne Stortz
My wife,Tonya and I are battling PTSD together and have created the Facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/PTSD-TBI-Break-the-Silence-Breaking-the-Cycle/773268522754434. Together we have stepped forward to share the struggle and how to overcome the daily challenges of PTSD. War changes the soldier. It changes the family too. We have put together a video that can be seen on our Facebook page, a video that was difficult to do, because it’s only the tip of the iceberg of problems this disorder has caused. We did it in hopes to help others, which is the ultimate goal!
~Rick Shaw, USMC Veteran
We are deeply grateful to Rick, for sharing his personal story and for continuing to help and serve our country as a civilian. We invite you to share your family photos &/or stories of those who served, so we may feature and honor them on Comes A Soldier’s Whisper.
Comes A Soldier’s Whisper remembering our history and soldiers one day at a time.
God Bless all who serve and keep us safe.
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