Posted at: 11/06/2009 4:33 PM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 11/06/2009 8:06 PM
By: Lynette Adams

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Coping with the stress of going to war

One local veteran says there is great fear when you learn you're being deployed overseas during an active war. Two local veterans told News 10NBC, they have some idea what the Ft. Hood shooter may have been going through.

When Otis Brundidge enlisted in the army at 24, he thought it was an opportunity to make something of his life. The thought of going to war, didn't cross his mind. While he doesn't sympathize with the suspect, Nidal Hassan, he does understand hearing the words, "You're being deployed."

Brundidge said, “It's the scariest feeling in the world. I think the unknown is the worst part of it - leaving your friends and family behind. Death is the big issue. It's really a big issue. You don't know if you're coming back.”

Hasan was scheduled to go overseas before the shootings. Brundidge says all sorts of thoughts go through your mind. “A soldier had a grenade and tried to blow up a tent for a shooting back in the state, for a high ranking official such as the soldier was. That's pretty extreme. So he's probably going through a lot of mental issues.”

Brundidge says the fear is warranted. Some soldiers don't make it back, physically and sometimes mentally. Army statistics show suicides among redeployed soldiers are on the rise.

Brundidge is part of a peer support group. It’s run by Bob Mitchell another Iraq War veteran. “It's hard. Everybody does it differently and there's really no set way to do it. You just hope your affairs are in order, so at least your family's going to be taken care of.”

Mitchell is saddened by the shootings. He's still waiting to see if any of his friends were affected. “It's impacting Veterans in the area and myself because the military's a small world. We know a lot of people who may be at Fort Hood in the area and our thoughts and prayers go out for them because it's such a horrible tragedy.”

Army figures show 117 active duty soldiers have committed suicide this year, up from 103 last year.

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