One veteran to another J By M. Todd Hunter Service officer steps up to save fellow veteran’s life, family osh Grant was still in high school when he signed his enlistment papers. Two years later, in 2013, the Army engineer turned 20 on a plane headed for Afghanistan. Specifics of the deployment aren’t known, but his family says he returned home a different person. “He’s never spoken to me about it,” said his father, Curt Grant, “but we found out what happened six months after he got home.” The young soldier had survived two improvised explosive device attacks during his time overseas. The experiences left him suffering from a traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe panic attacks. But because he was not considered a threat to himself or others, doctors at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., would not immediately treat him. “He called me during the last couple months of his enlistment, and I could tell he was stressed medically,” Curt explained. “But I couldn’t get a straight answer to what was going on because his providers couldn’t talk to me.” With little to go on, and fearing for his son’s well-being, Curt paid for his son to receive private care out of his own pocket. A few months later, Josh was honorably discharged and returned home to Illinois. He tried to adapt to civilian life, but according to his father, his life fell apart around him. He lost his fiancée, whom he had been with for six years, and his struggle with PTSD left him unable to function at his heating and air conditioning job. Even his friends distanced themselves, saying his medication made him paranoid and unable to communicate without slurred and nonsensical speech. “It was just mind-boggling, all the different medications he was on,” Curt said. “You couldn’t have a coherent conversation with him. He was whacked out of his mind.” His son became paralyzed by depression, spending most days in bed and only retreating to the garage to draw, write or smoke—a habit he became financially reliant upon his parents to support since he no longer had a job. DAV.ORG | FACEBOOK.COM/DAV | @DAVHQ 5 Josh Grant (right) during his deployment to Afghanistan in 2013.
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One veteran to another
M. Todd Hunter
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