Posted by Robyn Mincher
, DCoE Strategic Communications
on August 24, 2011
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Retired Army Maj. Ed Pulido (Courtesy photo by Real Warriors Campaign)
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As Real Warrior and retired Army Maj. Ed Pulido took to the radio airwaves recently, he used his own experience with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to give tips on how veterans can reconnect with family and friends after deployment. In a series of interviews hosted by DCoE’s Real Warriors Campaign, Pulido encouraged veterans to seek help and support when returning from combat.
“When service members come back from deployment, they hope things will be the same and sometimes it’s not...but at the end of the day the Real Warriors program is here to help,” Pulido said in his interview with KPMS 94.1 in Seattle, Wash. “[Veterans] just want to make sure that we’re supported, and that we know and understand the stressors of what war brings out, but we also want a warm welcome home. This is what the campaign is all about.”
In 2004, Pulido lost his leg after he drove over an improvised explosive device in Iraq. Once home, he started to experience psychological health concerns, such as suicidal thoughts, and took steps to get treatment.
“I looked at myself as a very strong individual...but I was suicidal and had issues with how I was going to move on with my traumatic brain injury and leg amputation,” he said during the interview.