Marine veteran with PTSD works to help others struggling with condition
MIAMI - Semper Fidelis.
It means "always faithful" in Latin and it's the motto engrained into the minds of every Marine.
When you speak to veteran John Schrey, his loyalty to our country is evident.
"I would do it again like that," said Schrey.
John was 25 when he joined the Marine Corps in 2006, a decision he made with one of his close friends.
"We decided together it was just time to make a change," said Schrey.
Then, it was off to 13 weeks of boot camp, from Sunny South Florida to Parris Island, South Carolina.
"I was expecting just physical hell -- physically it was taxing but it was mentally, mentally they just break you down," said Schrey.
After boot camp, Schrey went to Twentynine Palms in California. In 2008, he got the call that changed his life.
He was sent to Afghanistan as a combat engineer with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, the first battalion-sized Marine unit to be deployed to Afghanistan.
There, Schrey and his fellow Marines would be on the front lines, fighting for our lives and country.
"You hear like these cracks, they sound like whipper snappers, and the next thing you know, you're tackling your buddy to the ground cause it's bullets going over your head. I don't even think you have enough time to be scared, you know, and that's when the training comes in and now it's like we maneuver like we did in training," said Schrey.
Training can only prepare service members for so much.
During Schrey's 2008 tour, several Marines were killed, including his friends Jacob Toves and Ivan Wilson.
"The mission is the objective. You know someone is going to die, and you hope they don't, but you know it's a possibility and if they do, you have to keep going. That was hard, that continues to be a struggle," said Schrey.
Schrey went back to Afghanistan in 2010, this time as a sergeant. His truck was blown up multiple times and he received numerous concussions but thankfully, none of the men from his unit were killed.
After serving his country for eight years, Schrey was finally going home for good to his wife Paula and their infant daughter Kendall.
But now, Schrey was facing a different kind of battle.
"I was a somewhat decorated Marine, sergeant of marines, I had everything that you would think I needed. My parents were so proud of me, everyone was proud of me, but when I got out, I was lost. I had no purpose,"
It all went back to John's training. The mission is the objective, your emotions are put to the side. After all, he went through, when Schrey can home, he couldn't feel anything.
"That numbness didn't allow me to love my daughter the way I do now, really. You know, it's hard for me to say that. I had a lot of shame about this but now I can understand why, but when I had my daughter, I didn't feel anything. I was so numb to emotion," said Schrey.
Schrey slipped into a life of addiction just months after he got home. A decorated war hero, now living on the streets.
"I thought if I would just go away, my daughter would be able to show pictures of her dad in my Marine Corps outfit and with my ribbons on and my awards, and she could show that and be proud of her dad. She wouldn't have to know that he died a junkie or that he died of an overdose or suicide," said Schrey.
As Schrey was dealing with his own struggles, tragedy followed.
Two of his Marine brothers and closest friends, Zachary Picking and Brandon Lay died by suicide.
"When a person is suffering from PTSD who's been a veteran, who's been in combat, they may come home with some serious psychological symptoms that cause great distress," said Dr. Spencer Eth, associate chief of mental health at the Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.
Dr. Eth says many veterans who live with PTSD often use other vices to cope with their pain and anxiety.
"We find that people who are traumatized fall back on whatever issues they had before. So, if there had been a preexisting substance abuse problem, it may get remarkably worse following traumatic exposure and combat," said Dr. Eth.
While Dr. Eth says the VA offers different kinds of therapy for veterans with PTSD and says it's treatable, Schrey explains that many veterans have a hard time accepting they have it, which can make receiving treatment more difficult.
"I still have a hard time saying I have PTSD. When you ask me, I feel like I'm soft," said Schrey.
Many veterans struggling with PTSD find themselves in compromising situations, and sometimes on the wrong side of the law.
"I became enamored with the idea of focusing on this particular group of individuals who really have more specialized needs and very, very different experiences," said Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez, a circuit court judge with the 11th judicial circuit in Miami-Dade County.
Judge Tinkler Mendez played a huge role in bringing veterans court to Miami-Dade, a diversion program aimed at rehabilitating veterans who have recently been arrested.
Through the program, veterans have a chance to get certain charges dropped if they follow the rules and are open-minded.
"Through the process of our program, we unpeel the layers and they blossom. They get their lives back," said Judge Tinkler Mendez.
Of the men and women who participate in veterans court, Judge Tinkler Mendez says a majority of them are successful. She says when these veterans graduate the program, they get a new start.
From numbing the pain of the trauma to a life of sobriety, these veterans begin to find purpose.
It's a story Schrey lived to tell.
"I didn't think I was capable of getting better, I didn't think I was capable of getting off the drugs. I didn't think I was able to find peace like I have now," said Schrey.
Schrey has been clean and sober for more than four years and he credits his relationship with his wife and daughter for saving his life.
Now, Schrey works for a recovery center, developing programs for veterans who are struggling like he was.
