your old stories are more interesting than most movies

Talking about ptsd helps for your brain to form them from fear to stories. Helped me alot. Hope youre good man.

Imagine telling a war story to 15k ppl from the cab of ur pickup. This seems like it might be helpful for PTSD

I was at shank that day. I will never forget them saying “attention on the fob, BREACH BREACH BREACH”

I didn’t go to Harvard. I went to Afghanistan. Class of 2014. Thanks for the courage to relay your story bro.

I have to say being a contractor especially in afg takes courage, in the Army you go with 200 of your closest friends who all have 240's m4's 203's etc etc prepared to defend against anything, you guys go over with a backpack and some clothes and have to meet people while your there all while doing your job and not being a target, pretty ballsy.

April 5 2014 at Bagram . Election Day , I was on the perimeter when IDF comes in , no biggy ... then I see a dude looking at me on the other side of the fence with an RPG . That's the last thing I remember and was my last day ever in Afghanistan. I hit 3 IEDs in Iraq and never got a scratch . My vic received small arms fire maybe 50 times are more as I went on over 400 missions outside the wire in Iraq from 06-10. Then I get a " safe job " in Afghanistan and get hit . When it's your time it's your time .

HI found your youtube video while helping one of my buddies working on his retirement medical documents. He needed to know the date of the Shank VBIED attack. I coundn't find my papers; so I did a google search and your video was one of the finds. Thanks for posting, We were there that day, just flew in from FOB Airborne for a meeting. Total of 4 of us from my team. We had just walked past the area where the detonation occurred. If the explosion would of happened 10 minted sooner we would have been caught in the open about 150 meters from the perimeter that was breached. The explosion happened while we were inside a wooden building. I thought the same...that we took a direct hit from a rocket; because of the blast, shock and debris inside the building. Everything went black with dust and the building falling apart. We found out a couple minutes later it was a truck VBIED that opened the perimeter. I can vouch for you......the devastation from the VBIED inside the FOB looked like a tornado had came in and flatten everything....all tents, buildings and equipment were crushed. Task Force Bayonet Jun 2012 to Mar 2013 Afghanistan.

That same day Aug 7th 2012 which is ironically "Purple Heart Day" near FOB Pasab my gun truck was hit with 3 RPG's the 3rd and final one penetrated the hull giving me shrapnel on the right side of my body.

I was there that day as well 82ND CAB…. (we did the flash mob in the DEFAC that July) I will never forget it. I thank you deeply for telling the story, because sometimes I feel like my memory of it wasn’t real. And hearing you retell it helped me remember parts I forgot happened. I’m seeing someone now to talk about my PTSD from the VBIED as well as the countless IDF. My flashbacks are wicked now as I just recently released I’ve never processed what happened until now. It’s like the cruelest groundhog’s day experience. I also share that feeling of guilty of walking away from that, knowing others weren’t so lucky. But again, thank you for sharing because this has helped me process even more.

The civilian aspect is what I find so interesting about your stories. I always wondered about people working in conflict areas around the world.

It's interesting hearing someone else's perspective of that day. I had pretty much the exact same thoughts. We all thought our building took a direct hit until we stepped outside and saw the mushroom cloud.

This guy needs to write a book and go on JRE

feel ya, 18 months spent at FOB Shank, also known as "Rocket City" Feb 2011 thru Sept 2012 God bless you made it through

from a fellow ISAF contractor ,,, thank you for your service !!!

I was at Salerno right after the VBIED.... small world. We where in the drainage ditches shooting across the flight line where they blew the whole. Right after they downed the Apache we pressed them back through the fence line. It wasn’t the special forces pushing them back it was 3rd Ranger batt. I’m an electrician now

I was right there with you man. Remember it vividly. TF Red Devils. Fob Shank Oct 2011-2012. Thanks for sharing bro

I remember that day being in my tent sleeping. All the stuff on my shelves was blown across the room. Hell of a way to be woken up. also had a mortar land 5 feet from my tent and not explode once there.

You are a tough survivor my friend. Keep on doing what you are doing and moving forward old chum.

I was there in 2011 to 2012 at FOB Airborne. I know of this story and seen the footage. This VBIED he speaks of was no joke devastating...

This happened the day my daughter was born... You NEED to write a book. You have an amazing narrative of an incredible story. I watched your last Afghanistan video. I subbed after this one. Keep it up bud!

glad you posted man! keep the videos coming out, i always look forward to watching them!

Thank you for posting man, hope everything is going good with you and the wife!

Really glad you made it unscathed. Thanks for sharing.

I’m here after hearing about escaping. Thanks for sharing. I’m hooked!

Appreciate the retelling of your experiences, thank you!

Keep it up man the haters only sit there and type but you’re actually doing something

I was there. I thought I was dead... At first, I thought a 107 or a 120 has landed just beside me, but while I was checking myself out for blood or injury, I noticed the huge mushroom cloud rising up. I has been half a mile away! Even that far away, it shattered glass, knocked sections of buildings apart, and we knew the same attack that hit FOB Salerno was the same kind of attack that we had just been hit with....

These stories are great. Thanks for sharing these with us.

Thank you for sharing with us!

Your a great story teller and your stories give great insight on what could happen while overseas contracting or serving.WOW

Thanks for your stories.

Keep the stories coming brah!!

Really appreciate your stories and a glimpse into what it was like for you. Never been there physically myself but I know several that have. They've shared experiences and it does seem to help them so I hope you get as much out of sharing as we do listening.

Thanks for taking such a dangerous job and supporting those folks forward.

IED threats really bugged me out in Iraq.They were constantly rigging them differently. Glad you survived.

Thanks for sharing your stories, I hope you're doing better today and that you've gotten help when you need it. Please always seek help, no trauma is minor and all experiences are valid. Thank you for putting your life on the line like that, I hope you get something out of knowing how invaluable and critical your work is. Take care of yourself friend!

Thanks for sharing! You are helping so many people!!!

Please keep the stories coming, you have some some wild stories that are worth telling

Thanks for sharing this! You really describe things well! I agree that talking about traumatic events is the best therapy. It helps you but it also helps others who through their own traumas as well. Thanks for talking about survivor's guilt. Its the thing nobody understand unless it happens to you.

Wow. Amazing story. Thanks for sharing. God bless you and all our soldiers. 🙏🏼

Intense. Thanks for sharing.

Keep the stories coming. I have enjoyed your content for a long time.

Keep em coming, these are great. I shared your last one to my units fb page and everyone loves these videos

Thank you for your story mate. I imagine it can take a lot to recollect these things to strangers on the internet. But it means a lot to hear experiences such as these. Thank you mate.

Interesting story. Thank you. 👍🏼

Your stories are worthy of a book, thanks for sharing 👍🏻

You have an ability to relate to the listener. Your experiences take us to a place and time where most will never go. Thanks

It is eye-opening and will surely help others who have experienced trauma like that (and not known how to deal with it). Thank you for sharing.

thank you for telling us this story. its not at all easy to talk about your trauma. especially on the internet. respect to you💯

I love the way you tell stories man. It reminds me of when I was in the Marines. You just kind of have this funny and comical way of describing things while sounding miserable at the same time. I love it! Keep it up.

Love these stories man.

Thank you for sharing this sir. It does help to talk about things that happened there. Most of us who worked in Afghanistan have been on similar situations more than once. But beside that, there have been good times and sometimes even funny situations. That's all part of being deployed in a war zone. And yet we kept going back. After couple of years, everytime I had an R&R I was thinking OK this is the last time I am taking R&R, that's it, I am done. But I kept going back again and again. Then after 7 and a half years, it was time to make the decision.

Great story, glad you made it out alive to tell the tale!

Thanks for sharing your experiences

Thanks for sharing, brother.

I remember this incident. I used to work with one of the team guys who took out several of the TB that rushed the base that day. I was deployed from Feb-Sept 2012 at FOB Mogensen and Nawbahar. We had some guys at FOB Shank too. When I was at Nawbahar we found 78 IEDs surrounding our base within a 5 mile radius, we were next to the Pakistan border. We had to have all of our food and supplies airdropped because the roads were so dangerous. If someone had to piss while on those roads, even when cleared, you never stepped out of the vehicle, you just pissed out of it. The fact that you were just driving around slick with 2 booger eaters is seriously insane!!! We would airlift the locals that hit the IEDs, a lot of the time just putting pieces in bags. You would have been lucky to have made it through your whole contract without hitting an IED. You can look back and laugh about it now though. Lol. I'm considering moving down to Ecuador to escape the rat race, that is how I found your channel. I plan on taking a trip down there later this year, but from what I've seen of it I think already sold on it. Lol Keep the content coming, much appreciated.

Talking about things like this definitely helps you more than you might realize.

Glad you're okay! I'm dealing with PTSD too. Praying for you guys man. 👍

Was at FOB Shank many times in 2013 and love hearing your POV and stories of the area. Please keep them coming.

The jingle trucks always scared me... only experienced a car VIEBD that hit one of the gates at the base... I was about .5mi away and it still felt crazy and rained debris on us. Thanks for sharing! As for the contractor vs mil...Being mil, I worked with a lot of contractors (Iraq 2010-2011, Afghanistan 2013-2014) and loved working with you guys... US civilians who were willing to risk their live along side us, well you guys are alright in my books.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Hopefully that does provide you some sort of relief, or help to generate perspective by telling it.

I remember that day clearly even 11 years later. We were cleaning our equipment to turn in to go home, i was on top of our contact truck when it hit. Everything slowed down and then it felt like you got hit by a truck in the chest. At that point i saw all the debris and the mushroom cloud over by the afghani shops. They called breach over the loud speaker then more idf came in before it went quiet. We got over there as fast as we could with our equipment to start clearing the rubble, stopping every time we would find a body. Then the next 24 hours was spent repairing the breach. My adrenaline pumped for hours it seemed and then we worked like dogs until they pulled us off the job to eat or sleep. Sometimes i forget about all of the contractors that are affected by this stuff. I watched a video of it on liveleaks a couple years later showing them doing a dry run on base, loading the hme into the truck, everyone hugging the sob then panning to the truck driving right up to the barrier amd detonating seconds later. Thanks for this video, hopefully this opens someone else up to talk about what happened during their deployment

I don't know how you're videos got to my recommendations, but I'm so glad they did. Stay safe out there dude!

I can only imagine the feeling you guys had when you were running to the opposite side of the base of the truck the day after the blast. I could see how in that moment you decided enough is enough for now. Thank God for the brave soldiers who immediately picked up arms to defend the base after the explosion. Thank God you are okay. Crazy crazy story.

Thanks for sharing man. Stay safe

videos are a great length. Long detailed conversations with tangents are great, IMO. I encourage you to not hesitate on longer video if you like, I think many would enjoy. Thanks for the free content. Safe travels brother

Drew, glad to here that you made it back to the States safe! My nephew was DJ Dietz Navy Seal who got killed in Afghanistan 15 1/2 years. The movie " Lone Survivor" tells the store. Looking like Biden is going to pull all the troop out by September this year.. Greg

Thank you for that story.

Great story...but the best part is your message at the end...it may take a while, years even, but it is incredibly important to talk trauma out one way or another...to a loved one, friend, or youtube audience..but please nobody hold stuff in forever...it’s going to come out one way or another...control it and do it on your own terms ✊🏼

Shank! That is where I started my time in country. I missed the outpost feel of it once we moved to the land of rules called Bagram. I have a great video of me recording an unusually dust free day when a 107 comes in and hits about a dozen feet from the opening of our hangar, We were right on the FARP and got hit daily. Shrapnel city for sure!

We were toolies at Bagram for awhile. You told me this story in the truck one day and about the 1st time you worked in Kabul outside the wire. My time there definitely had an affect on me and I developed tinnitus. I didn't experience anything as dangerous as what you relate here but the everyday stress of having to be constantly on guard took its toll especially working 12 hour days 7 days a week for 90 days at a clip without time off. Many people around me were clearly suffering from exhaustion both mental and physical, you could see it in their faces and hear it in their voices myself included. Take care.

I was based at FOB Shank for C-RAM at that time but happened to be travelling that day...I remember the aftermath.

Thanks for sharing, great story telling skills too.

Thanks for sharing brother.

Bro I don't know how I didn't find your channel earlier. Great shit. Keep them coming. Thank you for sharing with us.

Thank you. What you shared does help the rest of us. Having been an officer in the military for four years, I naively thought that being a contractor would be a less stressful and great money situation. Yes, the money was there, but I was not prepared for the concessions to the ever prevalent dangers that I had to face. Again, thank you.

Super interesting stories dude, looking forward to hearing more. You've seen some seriously crazy shit.

If i could, i’d give you a big hug after hearing your story. You went thru some of the worst shit that could possibly happen. Do not feel guilty for going to the medic, and don’t feel guilty for anything else that day. You did your best in an insanely difficult situation. Your stories are incredibly captivating and i hope you continue to tell your story.

It's really cool seeing someone who can tell a story that eloquently about your experience as a civilian contractor in afghanistan. Also, don't worry about your PTSD not being as bad as others because you have it, and that's all that matters.

I'm grateful you made it out of that mess. I hope you've been able to get some help for your PTSD. Having been through it myself I can hear it in your story. It becomes apparent in the granular detail burned into memory. I avoided getting treated for a long time, but I am thankful that my wife talked me into going. Life is much better now, I wish that for you too.

Just found your channel. Watched a couple videos. I definitely subbed. Thanks for the videos. Hope all is well.

I just hope and pray the rest of your career goes easier. I've been desperate for a job before, but these stores are unreal. It's all down hill from here! Scary situations, don't have enough underwire to survive half those situations. God has plan for you for sure! Stay safe.

I hope talking about the events in your life, telling the stories that led to PTSD do help you deal with your experiences, and come to terms with the trauma and undeserved guilt you feel, thank you for sharing... bravery is best expressed in openly feeling and honestly dealing with life, not withdrawing and denying pain

I Remember this day- I was one of the first responders at 7th Engineer Battalion... Felt the shockwave about half a mile into the Fob!

Appreciate you sharing. A side of the conflicts we don't get to hear much about.

To listen to your stories is very helpful for others who have been in similar situations. How naturally you’re talking encourages other to talk and to have an idea of how to go about doing it. I hope you sharing your stories is also helping you. I’ve been in the field as a Christian worker. I came back recently from the far NW of Pakistan. Thank you for sharing,

Hey man, just found your channel and I love it. Thanks for sharing such personal stories :) Keep it up!

Awsome stories . You have some big balls man to step foot in afganistan. Keep it up with the good story vids

You are an excellent story teller ... you took me there ... it’s a gift man🤟👍👏👏👏

Awesome, keep 'em coming!

Fob Salerno was my first stop when I was medivact in April of 2010 I can’t remember to much I think it was where my first surgery was done before I was flown to Bagram

Love your stories

Wow thank you for sharing.

thanks for sharing. interesting stories.

I was there when you were there! Great stories, keep them coming!

Great story, thanks

You are a hero to me as much as any soldier!!! Thanks for your service and this story. I hope that you can put this trauma behind you.

I don’t know where you are now, but keep your head down, and stay safe brother...God bless you man.

I subbed not long after you made the McMurdo videos but completely forgot about your channel until i was recommended your nightmare afghan employer video. Really glad youtube reminded me that i subscribed to a channel with a ton of good content that i will be binging over the coming weeks haha. Love your content man, I'm hooked.