Veterans rebuild civilian selves
In part three of our series on Texas veterans, we talk to Marine Sgt. Juan Chavez, a Taylor native, who will be discharged from the Marines soon and wants a smooth transition into civilian life. How he describes it:
“Totally nerve-racking,” said Chavez, who joined the Marines in 2003 and survived tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. “It’s this sense of, ‘Oh man, I’m becoming a civilian.’ I won’t be Sgt. Chavez anymore.”
Several programs have been created to ease veterans into civilian life and help with the transition.
Photo: Jay Janner/American-Statesman
The old Spanish mission, 182 poorly armed Texas rebels faced upwards of 2000 crack Mexican troops under the command of the finest Mexican general, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Mexicans had cavalry and a battery of cannon. The Texans had grit, determination, and cannons with very little ammunition. For 12 days, the Texans stood down Santa Anna, enduring bombardments daily. Finally, Santa Anna had enough and ordered a full assault on the mission in a surprise pre-dawn attack. Every defender of the mission was killed but Santa Anna did spare the women and children as well as sparing and freeing two African American slaves found in the fort. It is a singular event in Texan history and it’s what lead directly to Texas becoming first a nation and later a state in the United States of America.
I have an article in the current edition of Reader’s Digest, but in case you don’t subscribe and you’re not in a doctor’s office, here it is…
In Helmand, Afghanistan, August 2009
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I sat in a conference room at a resort in Desert Hot Springs, California,…
