Surreal

In the early morning hours of September 19, 2008, in a matter of minutes, events occurred that changed lives. My Veteran crumbled, and fell into an abyss.

September the 18th was the beginning of the crumble. That day started on an off note. Pat awoke in an unusual mood. Unusual moods had become commonplace for Pat since he returned from Iraq. I accepted it - that’s the way life was going to be. I just had to learn to cope with it. That was part of living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I thought I had learned to cope with it. PTSD is a very complex disorder, but one which I thought I understood.

As the day of September 18 ticked away, a time bomb was also ticking – inside Pat.

What triggered the bomb, I will probably never know. But, as the situation spiraled out control, I knew I had to escape. And in the early morning hours of September 19, 2008 – the bomb exploded.

In a matter of minutes, two forces with a common goal – to serve and protect – came face to face: Pat Lamoureux, Iraq War Veteran, and the Deputies of the Nye County Sheriff’s Department. In the end, the two forces with a common goal had something else in common. The Veteran and a Deputy lay wounded.

Later on in the day of September 19, 2008, Pat’s son-in-law stated, “This is surreal.”