Once We Flew: Volume II: Aftermath

Once We Flew: Volume II: Aftermath

Volume II: Aftermath, continues Once We Flew: The Memoir of a US Army Helicopter Pilot and a Life with PTSD, Volume I. The author, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joe Sepesy is no longer operating as an experienced and capable, indestructible and very lucky Huey Aircraft Commander and Flight Lead. At twenty, he was responsible for the lives of dozens of crewmen and soldiers, numerous aircraft, and the completion of combat missions. In Volume II: Aftermath, now private citizen and veteran Sepesy, must face new situations and responsibilities. And so, begins Joe’s second war! Sepesy leads the reader through monumental struggles and embarks down a new path to battle his injuries and scars of war, including PTSD. But, those effects of war, along with the military way of black-and-white, by-the-book thinking of live or die, and horrific memories, will present new challenges and complicate every-day routines. Sepesy must muddle through and overcome the more mundane obstacles of college, career, and home. Then, and more significantly, throughout his years of employment, he must deal with the repeated displays of hypocrisy, incompetence, and use of double standards practiced by others, and their lies, mischaracterizations, and vindictiveness that will threaten Joe’s security and future. During the next five decades, many operations (6 spinal and more) will plague Joe, and the insidious ways of PTSD will go undetected until 2006—a new journey of survival … and accomplishment will begin. Sepesy’s PTSD equation includes triggers and symptoms: survivor guilt and shame (traumatic guilt); anger, depression, stress and emotional numbing; mistrust of, and confrontation with figures in authority; hypervigilance and hyperarousal; demon dreams and alarming reactions to unexpected noises; and the big one—sensitivity to injustice. PTSD is sadness, guilt, loneliness, isolation, despair, anger, fear, pain, confusion—the list is different for everyone affected. What PTSD isn’t … is hopeless. — PTSD maxim during group therapy In Aftermath, the reader will find epigraphs about PTSD from medical professionals, survivors, and veterans. These excerpts, stripped down to their essence, bring a basic understanding to the reader, and for some, a perspective into his or her own suspected PTSD, or those of family members and friends. But know; there is hope … and there can be happiness.