Oh boy... I remember this like it were yesterday!! Love you buddy!!!

Hey all, My name is Chris. I currently reside in North Dakota. I work in the building industry as a salesman selling everything from lumber to prefinished millwork. I do foundation to finish estimates. I am 43 years old and have been married to my beautiful wife Kelly for 19 years. She has been my rock through many obstacles. We have two beautiful daughters, Aubri 17 and Aliya 14. I am an avid outdoorsman. I have been hunting for as long as I can remember. I am not a trophy hunter but I do pray that one day I shoot a "Booner" lol. I have had incredible success hunting. I have a couple beautiful mule deer bucks I've harvested and put on the wall. I had some incredible journeys chasing elk and coyotes and whitetail. My dream it to one day be blessed enough to harvest a Dall Sheep, a bull Moose, and a Mountain Caribou. Maybe one day when i grow up one of those dreams will come true. 😉 I joined the Army in the beginning of 2001. I had a 16 month combat deployment to Iraq that started back in 2004. After my six years was up I made the decision to re-enlist for another two years. My time in the Army was something that I'll never forget. The bad times and the good. I have had some of my worst days in the military. From death to injury, I've witnessed it all. Besides the deaths of my comrades I wouldn't change a thing. It may be difficult for some to comprehend that through all the negativity I have been through that I can still find the positives. That takes us to a previous part of my life. I grew up in an addicted household. My dad was an alcoholic and my mom followed suit adding prescription medication. They married and divorced before I could make memories of their unity. From custody battles to Foster care, from "family care" to uncertainty, I've seen it all. I've seen addiction and abuse. Mental and physical. Still im strong! I saw my mom physically abused by men that dont deserve recognition. At 13yrs old I had to do something that would rattle most adults. I held a loaded gun to the head of one of my moms abusers as he had her tipped over in a recliner with the corner of the chair busted through the sheetrock. Some would think that this could be the one of the worst days of their lives. As it would seem my mom, bruised and bloody tipped backwards in a recliner, isn't the worst that could happen in my opinion. After that situation I begged my mom to send me back to my dad. A few days later I was on a plane from Hampton VA back to the mighty Midwest. My mom told me, "ill call you tomorrow to make sure you made it home safe".... I didnt hear from her again until nearly 10yrs later. That departure was one of the worst days. Throughout my life I've had uncertainty. You WILL face uncertainty. Like a clay formation you will be formed. Your life may not turn out like a beautiful clay pot but more likely a jumbled clay formation. The ND badlands were made out of jumbled clay, pressure, tears, and uncertainty. Its truly a beautiful thing.

@James Blackburn I was in a tent city called Camp Ashraf. It was 5mi as the crow flies from Balad across the river.

@Gary Marshall for me it started with the willingness to outstuborn my urge to use nicotine. I smoked and chewed for a lot of my adult life. Ive used the patch and the gum and the lozenges etc and nothing seemed to help at all. Once your mind has resisted your urge to use the body will follow. Eventually just being around it will make you question why you started in first place. Keep in the back of your mind all the reasons not to use nicotine and they will be the reasons you overcame an extremely hard addiction. Always forward brother! You got this!