December 9, 2025 • 31 mins
Combat Vet Vision serves as a vital platform for elucidating the multifaceted experiences of combat veterans, with a particular emphasis on the pervasive issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In this episode, we engage in a profound dialogue with Ishi Ron, an esteemed author whose literary work, "Dog," poignantly addresses the harrowing realities associated with PTSD among veterans. Ishi candidly shares his personal journey, detailing the challenges he faced following his military service, including the tumultuous emotional aftermath of a traumatic incident that significantly impacted his life. Throughout our conversation, we underscore the imperative of societal understanding and support for PTSD sufferers, advocating for a shift in perceptions to view these individuals not as weak, but as resilient survivors confronting profound challenges. Our discussion aims to foster awareness and provide hope, reinforcing the notion that healing is attainable through community support and open dialogue.
The podcast delves into the profound challenges faced by combat veterans as they transition from military service to civilian life, particularly focusing on the pervasive issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The host, alongside guest Ishi Ron, an author and veteran, engages in a candid dialogue about the complexities of PTSD, emphasizing its devastating impact not only on the individual but also on their families and broader societal perceptions. Ishi shares his personal narrative, recounting harrowing experiences during his service, including an accidental shooting incident involving a teammate, which left indelible scars on his psyche. This exploration is not merely anecdotal; it touches upon the broader societal implications of trauma and the stigma surrounding mental health issues among veterans. The discussion poignantly highlights the necessity for open dialogue and support systems, advocating for a societal shift in understanding PTSD as a legitimate and serious condition that warrants compassion and assistance rather than stigma. Through this narrative, listeners are encouraged to confront the uncomfortable truths surrounding trauma and seek the necessary support, underscoring the message that healing is possible with the right resources and community support.
Takeaways:
- The podcast aims to provide essential information about the transition from military to civilian life for combat veterans.
- PTSD is a significant mental health issue that affects many veterans, often manifesting in severe anxiety and depression.
- The importance of open dialogue regarding trauma is emphasized, as it facilitates healing and understanding among veterans.
- Support groups and community connections play a crucial role in helping veterans cope with their experiences and find paths to recovery.
- The discussion highlights the societal stigma surrounding PTSD and the necessity for greater awareness and acceptance of mental health struggles.
- Ishi Ron's book 'Dog' offers insight into the realities of PTSD and has been recognized as an important literary work on the subject.
Resources and Links:
Combat Vet Vision Linktree: https://linktr.ee/aqseibert
PTSD Foundation of America / Camp Hope: https://ptsdusa.org
Warrior Built Foundation: https://warriorbuilt.org
Veterans Transition Resource Center (Las Vegas): https://vtrc.vegas
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Hey, welcome to Combat Vet Vision.
This is a show designed forour combat vets, our veterans, our
sponsor, supporters, volunteers.
It's an educational piece forour public for anybody out there.
That wants to know aboutveteran stuff, that wants to know
about our lives, especially ascombat vets.
This is Combat Vet Vision.
(00:31):
It's really designed to justget you the information you need
about maybe how our lives kindof transition from our military career
into civilian life and what,what that entails.
You know, I do a lot with theWar Built foundation, the PTSD Foundation.
I have a lot of guests thatcome on my show.
Most of my guests I know Ihave a personal relationship with.
I do a lot of reallyincredible things.
(00:51):
Today's guest comes all theway from Israel.
His name is Ishi Ron.
He actually created a bookand, and is an author of a book called
Dog A Special Force Guy reallywants to come on and talk and tell
his story, so I'm lookingforward to having him.
And J.B. brown will be on nextweek or, or in the next couple weeks.
(01:13):
He's been super busy for J.B.brown's kitchen corner.
He's just been super busy.
He actually got busy doingsome catering jobs that he, you know,
it's that time of the season.
So I'm hopefully lookingforward to seeing him in, in the
near future.
But Ishi, hey, thanks a lotfor being on my show.
Thanks for coming on and talking.
(01:35):
Let's talk about you.
Tell, tell us a little bitabout you.
It's honor to be your guest, Chief.
It's amazing.
It's, it's, you know, I'm, I'minjured in with PTSD.
Very badly.
So since I, I started to be alittle balanced, it was very important
(01:59):
for me to shade the light onthis such important issue, the PTSD
among veterans and, andgenerally among the weak population,
population that suffers from ptsd.
You know, PTSD is really oneof the worst mental illness or injury
(02:24):
that we as soldiers can, canget hurt during our service.
I was drafted to a special unit.
I will, I volunteered ofcourse and during my service I, I
encountered many situationwhich were life risking and I've
(02:46):
seen a lot and I've done a lot.
And one of my worst thing isthat during an operation I shot one
of my teammates accidentally.
Of course it was during anoperation he was injured and for
me it was like a very.
Very intense situation and Ididn't see at the time it was, it
(03:12):
happened many years ago at thetime I didn't see any.
Psychiatrist or talked aboutmy, my Encounters and my operations
and especially this specific operation.
And I think if you don't speakabout the stuff as, as we all know
(03:34):
later, they can erupt in avery dramatic and extreme.
You know, a manifestation of ptsd.
So you know, for me it wasgetting out of the army and doing
my stuff like going to, tostudy, meeting my wife, raising a
(03:58):
family.
And all this time I wasbasically 24 hours drunk or stoned.
Okay.
I was self medicated myselfwith the, with drugs and alcohol.
And for many years it helped.
For many years I was, ofcourse I had a lot of PTSD manifestation
(04:20):
like nightmares at night andbeating my wife out of sleep and.
Other stuff, anxiety.
But I didn't feel it as hardas it will be erupted years later.
And, and you know, I alwaysdenied it because probably chief,
(04:42):
you know that.
Guys are usually a very, very tough.
We are like monkeys.
We just went out, went downthe trees and we are like so strong.
So it's hard for us to admitany weakness.
And for me, many years I justdenied it.
(05:03):
I told my wife, no, everythingis fine.
And she said no, is she?
Go check yourself, you are not well.
No, no, everything is fine.
And things became worse andworse and at one point I couldn't
medicate myself anymore.
So I, I started going with thepsychiatric medication.
(05:26):
But still I denied that it was ptsd.
And only many, many yearsafter the army, my team had a reunion
and, and we, we met and then,I mean I met everyone, including
the guy I shot.
And when I came home I wassick in my body first in like for
(05:51):
a few days and then I just collapsed.
I mean I just had 24, sevenanxiety, panic attacks, I didn't
sleep, I didn't eat, I had depression.
And that was the only timethat I understood for the first time
that I have PTSD from the army.
(06:14):
And that led me of course totreat myself and to go to the Ministry
of Defense and getting myrights and starting to take care
in with the family with, youknow, take care and taking care of
my kids and my, my wife, whichsuffered also with me and of course
(06:36):
getting the help I needed.
During this time I.
I started to, I actually cameback to a book I wrote.
I'm an author in my profession.
So I wrote a book a few yearsbefore which is called Dog, which
is actually dealing with thesame subject, the same thing.
The protagonist is PTSDofficer which was serving in Gaza
(07:02):
and came back home severelydamaged and he start to suffer from
anxiety attacks and he cannotrecognize himself and he's going
down and down the hill like a snowball.
You know, he, he, he startssmoking dope and start drinking,
(07:24):
but it ain't helping him.
So he's doing other drugs andthen he finds himself shooting and,
and like shooting drugs andheroin and doing heroin and living
on the street, like living ina dump in Tel Aviv.
And.
You know, for me, it, when Iwrote this book, my subconscious
(07:49):
knew I'm PTSD already.
That's why I dealt with this subject.
But when I really erupted likea volcano and everything exploded
for me then because I couldn'twork and I couldn't concentrate and
I was on really high medication.
So I just returned to the bookand my psychiatrist said, listen,
(08:13):
you know how to write.
You love to write.
Leave everything, just do it now.
Go back to this book, startediting it, and, you know, let's
see what goes what, what youcan do with it and have your experiences
also.
(08:35):
Processed through thiswriting, through this writing, this
novel.
Dog, the name is interesting.
We'll touch it a little bit later.
But Dog became a bestseller inisra, long listed for the Sapir Prize,
which is Israel's best literature.
(08:57):
Prize.
It became like a cow book inIsrael for a PTSD veterans and for
a PTSD in general.
Because, you know, Chief, whenwe are a, when we are talking about
ptsd, it's not only for veterans.
We are of course here forfriends and teammates and, and, and
(09:21):
you know, it's a veteran show.
But I have to, to remind ourlisteners that the prostitutes on
the streets or the drugaddicts on the street, they, they,
they didn't choose to bethere, okay?
They are the weaken.
They're the weakest link inour society.
And the reason they are there,it's because they carry trauma.
(09:47):
Each, each carries his own trauma.
You know, there are manyveterans on the street and many veterans
that are a drug addict, butalso those other, other traumatic
incidents in our life, ruinedfamilies, sexual attacks.
Everyone deals with something,and some of us deals with a lot,
(10:10):
and some of us has thinner skin.
And those traumatic thingsinfluence us maybe a little bit,
a little worse than it does others.
And, and it's important for mewhen I light, shade, you know, when
I shade the light on thissubject, which is so very important
(10:33):
and so very global todaybecause you have lots of PTSD everywhere
in the world.
You know, everywhere there'sconflicts and in undeveloped countries
and in developed countries inthe US you have so many veterans
suffering with ptsd.
(10:54):
Also in Israel, especially nowafter two years of war, I think we
are more than doubled arehandicapped and PTSD survivors.
So it is so important for meto, to, to shade the light and to
put this subject so peoplewill know not only on us as a veterans
(11:21):
and, and it's very importantthat they will know why we sometimes
need to, to take ourhandicapped certification and cut
the lines or, you know, havethose a little special treatment
because they don't understandthat we can snap in a second or be
violent or be.
(11:44):
Or have panic attacks andstuff like this.
But also I want people to knowthat it's, you know, that it's all
around us, that it's the, theprostitution on the streets, the
prostitute on the street, thedrug addicts that come to our, you
(12:04):
know, to our cars and ask for,for money.
All of them, trust me, theyare trauma survivors, all of them.
And.
So I hope DOG will have thesame impact in the US as it was in
Israel.
You know, I already getting alot of, a lot of.
(12:26):
Comments and, and people con.
Contacting me privately, mywebsite, in my social networks.
They read the book and they'relike, wow.
And it's very importantbecause it's not only for them, but
also for their family.
You know, when the book wasreleased in Israel.
(12:47):
People starting to come to myhouse for like, they wanted.
They said they want thesignature for the book they bought,
but actually they want to speak.
And I had many, many soldiers,you know, Special Forces and other
soldiers from many, many unitswhich suffered ptsd.
(13:08):
But I also had parents, youknow, that came to speak with me.
They said our son isdefinitely suffering from ptsd, but
he's not admitting it.
Let's talk it.
Please tell us what to lookfor, what to, how to approach him,
what to say, because it'samazing how so many years it took
(13:29):
me to admit it, which it wasso obvious for me.
And, and I think about allthose people in Israel, more, more
than 70 soldiers took theirown lives since the Gaza war started.
Okay.
And, and it's, it's a crazyfigures for such a small country.
(13:51):
And it's, I'm sure that it'smuch, many more than what is published,
of course.
And.
Those people could have been saved.
I heard that the numbers inthe US are crazy for veterans taking
their own lives.
Those people can be saved ifthe society will accept them and
(14:14):
reach a hand and help them andassist them.
Of course, the Ministry ofDefense, the army, if they would
accept that this is the majorinjury, exactly like losing an arm
or a leg or, you know, anyother injury, then I think it would
(14:36):
be a little Better for, forall of us.
Yeah.
Issue.
Thanks.
Thanks for sharing so manyimportant facts in, in this, in the
matter of ptsd.
I mean, you, you, you havethis book dog, that's super important.
I think it's going to be agreat book for anybody to read.
(14:57):
I look forward to reading partof it myself.
I'm a very slow reader, so Iread parts.
But, you know, there's so manyimportant things that you brought
up.
And I would say, you know, andsomething that I bring up often is
that our society as is human,humans, we deal with trauma.
And I, I feel like we as asociety, we never come together and
kind of talk about that trauma.
(15:18):
We don't embrace that trauma.
And, you know, I think that'swhy, you know, so many people go
to church in search of so manydifferent things.
It's important to do that.
But you never really have anopportunity to kind of share your
trauma with others that arearound you that are maybe going through
some of those same subjectsthat you're dealing with as a society.
(15:39):
But I spend a lot of time, Ihave three warrior groups of every
week.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Warrior Bill puts out a, awarrior group for our combat vets
as well.
The PTSD foundation of Americaruns a warrior group every single
night.
You know, this is where we ascombat vets come together and we
talk about these traumas so wecan move forward in a positive direction
(16:00):
together.
And if you're just dealingwith it by yourself, it's very hard
because you're having the sameconversation with yourself all day
long every day, and you don'tnecessarily get past the conundrum
of some of the puzzle piecesthat you need to fill in.
And so when you talk aboutyour, your experiences and what you're
going through and, and thefact that you're so blatant honest
(16:22):
about, you know, the fact thatyou had this accident, firing and
shooting your buddy and goingthrough this trauma and coming back
and dealing with, you know,causing damage to your wife and,
and, and, and beating her outof her sleep.
And, you know, these thingsare very hard for people to understand,
to hear.
But your wife is still part ofyour life.
And everything that I've seenon your social media now reflects
(16:44):
kind of more a calm effectbecause the chaos in our minds can
be so crazy that you're,you're, you're opposing that necessarily
that con, that chaos with calmstuff that you're putting out there.
And so I think it's a reallyawesome that you've reached out to
my, my My platform here, andyou're presenting a great story.
(17:05):
You're telling a story that.
That people can.
Can relate to.
The.
The prostitutes on the street,all the people that are homeless,
The.
The trauma, whatever it isthat they're going through, the struggles
that put them there can leadto a better place if they just grabbed
a hold of the help thatexists, because there's plenty of
help out there.
But, you know, Chief, I. Iwant to say something, and it's very
(17:26):
important.
You went through my socialmedia and you saw, like, it's more
calm than you.
Than.
Than you would have imagined.
And this is one thing that Ithink people, they don't understand
in.
In our world today, you know,there were.
(17:47):
After the October 7th, we had.
I think, really recently,first of all, we have soldiers committing
suicide, taking their own lives.
I think every week.
It's amazing.
But.
But we had guys.
There was a survivor, whichwas in October 7, and his girlfriend
(18:11):
was killed near him, and hetried to save her, and he couldn't.
And he was.
They survived.
He survived the Nova Festival, and.
And he started to go aroundthe world and talking about it, and
everybody was thinking thathe's really out of it, you know,
(18:31):
that he was.
Because he had thousands orhundreds of thousands of followers,
and he was developing somekind of, like, program, and suddenly
he just took his own life.
He said he left a note that he couldn't.
Dealt with.
Dealt with it anymore, withhis agony and with his shame and
(18:54):
with his.
With his.
Feelings.
And I wanted to say that manypeople, they project through the
social media that everythingis okay.
You know, they project thatthey have a wonderful life and that
they go to this hotel or tothis location.
(19:17):
And, you know, for me, I'mtalking about everything, and I'm
showing also the good parts.
But I can tell you that evenwhen I'm very balanced, every day
I'm feeling anxieties and I'mfighting some demons.
It's not that, you know, thatyou go through and you see, okay,
(19:38):
I've been here or I talked.
So I think that basically thisis the main.
We have some issues that.
That we have to understand in ptsd.
One of them is the first issueis shame.
And I saw.
I saw that Rachel asked aquestion here about what I suggest
(19:59):
for other male.
Male injury.
Who wants to seek.
Yeah.
Who wants to seek help, but isconcerned about how they'll be perceived.
Yes.
And.
It'S the first thing aboutptsd, because when you.
(20:20):
When you're talking aboutmental illnesses, general, and of
course about ptsd in specific.
In specific, you're talkingabout shame.
You know, we, we perceiveourselves as soldiers.
We are strong, and as males,we are strong.
That's why so many, so fewmale admit sexuality because they
(20:43):
are ashamed to tell thatthey've been.
That they've gone through whatthey've gone through.
And with ptsd, it's about the same.
And I'm always giving theexample, like colon cancer.
Colon cancer is killingbecause of shame.
Because people, especiallyguys, are ashamed to have this testing,
(21:06):
which is in their eyes is humiliating.
You know, getting this pipe uptheir butt to check if they have
something and they are notdoing it while they are 50 or.
And then they, they get thecancer and they die.
So it's the same with ptsd.
We are ashamed to admit thatwe were hurt in the army while our
(21:30):
teammates is fine and youknow, all the things they, we got
everything together andsuddenly I'm feeling so bad and I'm
feeling anxiety attack andpanic attacks and stuff.
And they are, okay, so what?
They are stronger.
What, they are heroes and I amwhat a coward.
(21:51):
This is what was theperception a few years ago.
Now in Israel, the perceptionis changing and actually society
start to see PTSD survivors as heroes.
And, And I'm very grateful forthis change and I think, I hope that
it will happen all over theworld because it is so important
(22:14):
for, for, for guys thatsuddenly don't recognize themselves
in the mirror.
You know, they are, they knowthat something is happening to them.
They're starting to have thisanxieties or panic attack or disassociations
or whatever, and they look atthe mirror and they say, what?
(22:37):
Like a week ago I was fine.
I smoke weed or I drank mybeer in the pub with my friends and
suddenly I'm not me.
And they, instead of seekinghelp or telling people, listen, I
need help, or something iswrong with me, they are try.
(22:58):
They are trying to deal withit, like you said, on their own.
And this is the worst thingthat can happen because after a while
when they cannot deal with itand they see that being drunk will
not help them and being stonedwill not help them, and it penetrates
everything.
(23:19):
Or after years interruptbecause they didn't process the experiences
they had in the military.
So then.
Everything erupts and thenthey feel they can never be themselves,
them again.
And sometimes it hurts them somuch, they just try to.
They just think, I better takemy own life and end it.
(23:45):
And so what I suggest topeople, first of all, I think it's
a lot about the family.
And I really hope for anytrauma survivor or mental illness
in general to have a strongfamily, supporting family, because
if the family sees that youare suffering or sees that you are
(24:10):
different, it will help.
And I think that.
People should know that thereis always a hope.
And for me, even in my worsttimes, and I can't tell you that
I didn't have any suicidal thoughts.
(24:31):
Of course every one of us saysit, but, you know, I always add this
hope that I will get this pillor that treatment that I. I'm not
already trying to be 100%because it will never happen, but
I'm trying to be more balanced.
(24:52):
And I'm feeling that wheneverI have a good day is an amazing day,
and whenever I have a new bookor a new achievement.
It'S an amazing achievementfor me.
So, you know, I.
Embracing my amazing family.
(25:14):
Ellie, my wife, she's amazingin, in embracing me and, and, and
accepting my, me as all withmy PTSD and my three sons as well.
You know, they are aware andthey know how to, to deal with me
and how to accept me.
(25:35):
And I think for people, theyhave to know that life is worth living.
And there's always a way totake, to change the treatment.
You know, if you haven't triedemdr, if you haven't tried this kind
of treatment or there's somany today, so many treatments that
(25:56):
some of them, you know, areeffective more, more and some are
less, but you have to try in,you know, for the sake of your life,
which is important, and forthe sake of your family.
That would be very sad if youend your life.
You have to do everything tobe as balanced as you can.
(26:18):
And, and I think, Chief, thatwhat you said before about groups
are one of the best optionsfor people to.
Especially people that don'thave those, this support, you know,
or don't have this.
Thing like I have, for instance.
(26:39):
Writing.
Writing gives me an amazingway of, of healing.
Of processing, of dealing withfeelings and with demons and, and
I think that for people, theydon't, that don't have it, they can
have groups, they can go tothe forest and have bonfire and talk
(27:04):
with other guys thatexperiences the experience the same
situation.
And it always.
It always helps to, to hearother stories, each other, you know,
those kind of supporting groups.
Yeah, Ish.
Thanks Issue.
(27:24):
Thanks for bringing all this up.
And, and one of the thingsthat's super important is, you know,
to have a battle buddy and tohave somebody you can confide in.
If you don't have A family.
If you don't have this, it'sthe groups, the, the things you need
to surround yourself with good people.
There's so many things and Iknow we're coming to the end of our
time and I want to giveeverybody a chance to, you know,
(27:45):
if any, any last words forsure for you and I'd love to bring
you back at some other time as well.
If you want to come back onthe show, that'd be great.
And if you want to get a holdof Ishi, you definitely can through
me.
But if she feel free to giveout any information that you want
people to have.
Obviously he's on social media.
He's on my social media so youcan find him if you see him on my
(28:07):
social media.
He's got a lot of really goodposts and he puts out some more awesome
stuff.
Go ahead, Ishi.
I just say that first of all Iwould be, you know, honored and grateful
for people to write me and I'mtrying to write everyone back I helping
also veterans in Israel.
(28:28):
But you know, anyone that willask anything, I will.
Support you can find me, likeChief said in my website in my social
media.
And also of course course ifyou want to read dog you can find
it in Amazon or Barnes andNoble or everywhere today in the
(28:48):
U.S.
I think, I think really I, Inot be it's of course it's important
for me because I wrote thebook but because I know what is it's
done in in Israel, I canreally tell people, veterans and
their families that it veryimportant book to read and to learn.
(29:10):
I can tell you that the national.
The Israeli National Librarymentioned DOG as one of the best
literature pieces about PTSDever written.
So I suggest and I'll be gladand honored to have people read it
(29:33):
and let me know how what theythought and if it helped them in,
in what kind and you know,thank you for, for, for this stage
and I'll be honored to, to beanytime you, you, you want.
You know, Chief, it's a veryimportant and amazing show and amazing
work you're doing and youknow, Israel veterans, the US Veterans,
(29:59):
we're on the same side so it'salways pleasure.
Well thanks and thanks for youknow, sharing your information and
all this, all the stuff thatyou got going on, important work,
important stuff that you'reputting out there as well as on your
social media.
I know you show the calmnessbut there's chaos within our minds
at any given time.
(30:20):
We need to find that balanceand we need to find ways and avenues
of hope.
You know, you talked aboutthat and that that hope can be from.
Hey, you know, like I lookforward to my warrior groups.
I look forward to all mysupport networks.
I look forward to my battlebuddies as I need it and I look forward
to all the things that keep memoving in a positive direction.
If you lose that hope, thensometimes you lose your life.
(30:41):
So you can have all thesegreat things like you said, showing
great, great stuff but in yourmind that chaos can really take you
down and take your life eventually.
So if you're in those cases,if you need that, that help and support,
obviously look at the PTSDfoundation of America.
There's a warrior group everysingle day online.
You can reach out to them atany given time.
Camp Hope has a six to ninemonth treatment facility directly
(31:01):
related to combat vets supportand all that other stuff.
And yeah, until next time,hey, this is combat vet vision.
Strength and honor out.
The only way and we neednothing more.
The only way Together forever.
(31:23):
That's for sure.
Hey, welcome to Combat Vet Vision.
This is a show designed forour combat vets, our veterans, our
sponsor, supporters, volunteers.
It's an educational piece forour public for anybody out there.
That wants to know aboutveteran stuff, that wants to know
about our lives, especially ascombat vets.
This is Combat Vet Vision.
(00:31):
It's really designed to justget you the information you need
about maybe how our lives kindof transition from our military career
into civilian life and what,what that entails.
You know, I do a lot with theWar Built foundation, the PTSD Foundation.
I have a lot of guests thatcome on my show.
Most of my guests I know Ihave a personal relationship with.
I do a lot of reallyincredible things.
(00:51):
Today's guest comes all theway from Israel.
His name is Ishi Ron.
He actually created a bookand, and is an author of a book called
Dog A Special Force Guy reallywants to come on and talk and tell
his story, so I'm lookingforward to having him.
And J.B. brown will be on nextweek or, or in the next couple weeks.
(01:13):
He's been super busy for J.B.brown's kitchen corner.
He's just been super busy.
He actually got busy doingsome catering jobs that he, you know,
it's that time of the season.
So I'm hopefully lookingforward to seeing him in, in the
near future.
But Ishi, hey, thanks a lotfor being on my show.
Thanks for coming on and talking.
(01:35):
Let's talk about you.
Tell, tell us a little bitabout you.
It's honor to be your guest, Chief.
It's amazing.
It's, it's, you know, I'm, I'minjured in with PTSD.
Very badly.
So since I, I started to be alittle balanced, it was very important
(01:59):
for me to shade the light onthis such important issue, the PTSD
among veterans and, andgenerally among the weak population,
population that suffers from ptsd.
You know, PTSD is really oneof the worst mental illness or injury
(02:24):
that we as soldiers can, canget hurt during our service.
I was drafted to a special unit.
I will, I volunteered ofcourse and during my service I, I
encountered many situationwhich were life risking and I've
(02:46):
seen a lot and I've done a lot.
And one of my worst thing isthat during an operation I shot one
of my teammates accidentally.
Of course it was during anoperation he was injured and for
me it was like a very.
Very intense situation and Ididn't see at the time it was, it
(03:12):
happened many years ago at thetime I didn't see any.
Psychiatrist or talked aboutmy, my Encounters and my operations
and especially this specific operation.
And I think if you don't speakabout the stuff as, as we all know
(03:34):
later, they can erupt in avery dramatic and extreme.
You know, a manifestation of ptsd.
So you know, for me it wasgetting out of the army and doing
my stuff like going to, tostudy, meeting my wife, raising a
(03:58):
family.
And all this time I wasbasically 24 hours drunk or stoned.
Okay.
I was self medicated myselfwith the, with drugs and alcohol.
And for many years it helped.
For many years I was, ofcourse I had a lot of PTSD manifestation
(04:20):
like nightmares at night andbeating my wife out of sleep and.
Other stuff, anxiety.
But I didn't feel it as hardas it will be erupted years later.
And, and you know, I alwaysdenied it because probably chief,
(04:42):
you know that.
Guys are usually a very, very tough.
We are like monkeys.
We just went out, went downthe trees and we are like so strong.
So it's hard for us to admitany weakness.
And for me, many years I justdenied it.
(05:03):
I told my wife, no, everythingis fine.
And she said no, is she?
Go check yourself, you are not well.
No, no, everything is fine.
And things became worse andworse and at one point I couldn't
medicate myself anymore.
So I, I started going with thepsychiatric medication.
(05:26):
But still I denied that it was ptsd.
And only many, many yearsafter the army, my team had a reunion
and, and we, we met and then,I mean I met everyone, including
the guy I shot.
And when I came home I wassick in my body first in like for
(05:51):
a few days and then I just collapsed.
I mean I just had 24, sevenanxiety, panic attacks, I didn't
sleep, I didn't eat, I had depression.
And that was the only timethat I understood for the first time
that I have PTSD from the army.
(06:14):
And that led me of course totreat myself and to go to the Ministry
of Defense and getting myrights and starting to take care
in with the family with, youknow, take care and taking care of
my kids and my, my wife, whichsuffered also with me and of course
(06:36):
getting the help I needed.
During this time I.
I started to, I actually cameback to a book I wrote.
I'm an author in my profession.
So I wrote a book a few yearsbefore which is called Dog, which
is actually dealing with thesame subject, the same thing.
The protagonist is PTSDofficer which was serving in Gaza
(07:02):
and came back home severelydamaged and he start to suffer from
anxiety attacks and he cannotrecognize himself and he's going
down and down the hill like a snowball.
You know, he, he, he startssmoking dope and start drinking,
(07:24):
but it ain't helping him.
So he's doing other drugs andthen he finds himself shooting and,
and like shooting drugs andheroin and doing heroin and living
on the street, like living ina dump in Tel Aviv.
And.
You know, for me, it, when Iwrote this book, my subconscious
(07:49):
knew I'm PTSD already.
That's why I dealt with this subject.
But when I really erupted likea volcano and everything exploded
for me then because I couldn'twork and I couldn't concentrate and
I was on really high medication.
So I just returned to the bookand my psychiatrist said, listen,
(08:13):
you know how to write.
You love to write.
Leave everything, just do it now.
Go back to this book, startediting it, and, you know, let's
see what goes what, what youcan do with it and have your experiences
also.
(08:35):
Processed through thiswriting, through this writing, this
novel.
Dog, the name is interesting.
We'll touch it a little bit later.
But Dog became a bestseller inisra, long listed for the Sapir Prize,
which is Israel's best literature.
(08:57):
Prize.
It became like a cow book inIsrael for a PTSD veterans and for
a PTSD in general.
Because, you know, Chief, whenwe are a, when we are talking about
ptsd, it's not only for veterans.
We are of course here forfriends and teammates and, and, and
(09:21):
you know, it's a veteran show.
But I have to, to remind ourlisteners that the prostitutes on
the streets or the drugaddicts on the street, they, they,
they didn't choose to bethere, okay?
They are the weaken.
They're the weakest link inour society.
And the reason they are there,it's because they carry trauma.
(09:47):
Each, each carries his own trauma.
You know, there are manyveterans on the street and many veterans
that are a drug addict, butalso those other, other traumatic
incidents in our life, ruinedfamilies, sexual attacks.
Everyone deals with something,and some of us deals with a lot,
(10:10):
and some of us has thinner skin.
And those traumatic thingsinfluence us maybe a little bit,
a little worse than it does others.
And, and it's important for mewhen I light, shade, you know, when
I shade the light on thissubject, which is so very important
(10:33):
and so very global todaybecause you have lots of PTSD everywhere
in the world.
You know, everywhere there'sconflicts and in undeveloped countries
and in developed countries inthe US you have so many veterans
suffering with ptsd.
(10:54):
Also in Israel, especially nowafter two years of war, I think we
are more than doubled arehandicapped and PTSD survivors.
So it is so important for meto, to, to shade the light and to
put this subject so peoplewill know not only on us as a veterans
(11:21):
and, and it's very importantthat they will know why we sometimes
need to, to take ourhandicapped certification and cut
the lines or, you know, havethose a little special treatment
because they don't understandthat we can snap in a second or be
violent or be.
(11:44):
Or have panic attacks andstuff like this.
But also I want people to knowthat it's, you know, that it's all
around us, that it's the, theprostitution on the streets, the
prostitute on the street, thedrug addicts that come to our, you
(12:04):
know, to our cars and ask for,for money.
All of them, trust me, theyare trauma survivors, all of them.
And.
So I hope DOG will have thesame impact in the US as it was in
Israel.
You know, I already getting alot of, a lot of.
(12:26):
Comments and, and people con.
Contacting me privately, mywebsite, in my social networks.
They read the book and they'relike, wow.
And it's very importantbecause it's not only for them, but
also for their family.
You know, when the book wasreleased in Israel.
(12:47):
People starting to come to myhouse for like, they wanted.
They said they want thesignature for the book they bought,
but actually they want to speak.
And I had many, many soldiers,you know, Special Forces and other
soldiers from many, many unitswhich suffered ptsd.
(13:08):
But I also had parents, youknow, that came to speak with me.
They said our son isdefinitely suffering from ptsd, but
he's not admitting it.
Let's talk it.
Please tell us what to lookfor, what to, how to approach him,
what to say, because it'samazing how so many years it took
(13:29):
me to admit it, which it wasso obvious for me.
And, and I think about allthose people in Israel, more, more
than 70 soldiers took theirown lives since the Gaza war started.
Okay.
And, and it's, it's a crazyfigures for such a small country.
(13:51):
And it's, I'm sure that it'smuch, many more than what is published,
of course.
And.
Those people could have been saved.
I heard that the numbers inthe US are crazy for veterans taking
their own lives.
Those people can be saved ifthe society will accept them and
(14:14):
reach a hand and help them andassist them.
Of course, the Ministry ofDefense, the army, if they would
accept that this is the majorinjury, exactly like losing an arm
or a leg or, you know, anyother injury, then I think it would
(14:36):
be a little Better for, forall of us.
Yeah.
Issue.
Thanks.
Thanks for sharing so manyimportant facts in, in this, in the
matter of ptsd.
I mean, you, you, you havethis book dog, that's super important.
I think it's going to be agreat book for anybody to read.
(14:57):
I look forward to reading partof it myself.
I'm a very slow reader, so Iread parts.
But, you know, there's so manyimportant things that you brought
up.
And I would say, you know, andsomething that I bring up often is
that our society as is human,humans, we deal with trauma.
And I, I feel like we as asociety, we never come together and
kind of talk about that trauma.
(15:18):
We don't embrace that trauma.
And, you know, I think that'swhy, you know, so many people go
to church in search of so manydifferent things.
It's important to do that.
But you never really have anopportunity to kind of share your
trauma with others that arearound you that are maybe going through
some of those same subjectsthat you're dealing with as a society.
(15:39):
But I spend a lot of time, Ihave three warrior groups of every
week.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Warrior Bill puts out a, awarrior group for our combat vets
as well.
The PTSD foundation of Americaruns a warrior group every single
night.
You know, this is where we ascombat vets come together and we
talk about these traumas so wecan move forward in a positive direction
(16:00):
together.
And if you're just dealingwith it by yourself, it's very hard
because you're having the sameconversation with yourself all day
long every day, and you don'tnecessarily get past the conundrum
of some of the puzzle piecesthat you need to fill in.
And so when you talk aboutyour, your experiences and what you're
going through and, and thefact that you're so blatant honest
(16:22):
about, you know, the fact thatyou had this accident, firing and
shooting your buddy and goingthrough this trauma and coming back
and dealing with, you know,causing damage to your wife and,
and, and, and beating her outof her sleep.
And, you know, these thingsare very hard for people to understand,
to hear.
But your wife is still part ofyour life.
And everything that I've seenon your social media now reflects
(16:44):
kind of more a calm effectbecause the chaos in our minds can
be so crazy that you're,you're, you're opposing that necessarily
that con, that chaos with calmstuff that you're putting out there.
And so I think it's a reallyawesome that you've reached out to
my, my My platform here, andyou're presenting a great story.
(17:05):
You're telling a story that.
That people can.
Can relate to.
The.
The prostitutes on the street,all the people that are homeless,
The.
The trauma, whatever it isthat they're going through, the struggles
that put them there can leadto a better place if they just grabbed
a hold of the help thatexists, because there's plenty of
help out there.
But, you know, Chief, I. Iwant to say something, and it's very
(17:26):
important.
You went through my socialmedia and you saw, like, it's more
calm than you.
Than.
Than you would have imagined.
And this is one thing that Ithink people, they don't understand
in.
In our world today, you know,there were.
(17:47):
After the October 7th, we had.
I think, really recently,first of all, we have soldiers committing
suicide, taking their own lives.
I think every week.
It's amazing.
But.
But we had guys.
There was a survivor, whichwas in October 7, and his girlfriend
(18:11):
was killed near him, and hetried to save her, and he couldn't.
And he was.
They survived.
He survived the Nova Festival, and.
And he started to go aroundthe world and talking about it, and
everybody was thinking thathe's really out of it, you know,
(18:31):
that he was.
Because he had thousands orhundreds of thousands of followers,
and he was developing somekind of, like, program, and suddenly
he just took his own life.
He said he left a note that he couldn't.
Dealt with.
Dealt with it anymore, withhis agony and with his shame and
(18:54):
with his.
With his.
Feelings.
And I wanted to say that manypeople, they project through the
social media that everythingis okay.
You know, they project thatthey have a wonderful life and that
they go to this hotel or tothis location.
(19:17):
And, you know, for me, I'mtalking about everything, and I'm
showing also the good parts.
But I can tell you that evenwhen I'm very balanced, every day
I'm feeling anxieties and I'mfighting some demons.
It's not that, you know, thatyou go through and you see, okay,
(19:38):
I've been here or I talked.
So I think that basically thisis the main.
We have some issues that.
That we have to understand in ptsd.
One of them is the first issueis shame.
And I saw.
I saw that Rachel asked aquestion here about what I suggest
(19:59):
for other male.
Male injury.
Who wants to seek.
Yeah.
Who wants to seek help, but isconcerned about how they'll be perceived.
Yes.
And.
It'S the first thing aboutptsd, because when you.
(20:20):
When you're talking aboutmental illnesses, general, and of
course about ptsd in specific.
In specific, you're talkingabout shame.
You know, we, we perceiveourselves as soldiers.
We are strong, and as males,we are strong.
That's why so many, so fewmale admit sexuality because they
(20:43):
are ashamed to tell thatthey've been.
That they've gone through whatthey've gone through.
And with ptsd, it's about the same.
And I'm always giving theexample, like colon cancer.
Colon cancer is killingbecause of shame.
Because people, especiallyguys, are ashamed to have this testing,
(21:06):
which is in their eyes is humiliating.
You know, getting this pipe uptheir butt to check if they have
something and they are notdoing it while they are 50 or.
And then they, they get thecancer and they die.
So it's the same with ptsd.
We are ashamed to admit thatwe were hurt in the army while our
(21:30):
teammates is fine and youknow, all the things they, we got
everything together andsuddenly I'm feeling so bad and I'm
feeling anxiety attack andpanic attacks and stuff.
And they are, okay, so what?
They are stronger.
What, they are heroes and I amwhat a coward.
(21:51):
This is what was theperception a few years ago.
Now in Israel, the perceptionis changing and actually society
start to see PTSD survivors as heroes.
And, And I'm very grateful forthis change and I think, I hope that
it will happen all over theworld because it is so important
(22:14):
for, for, for guys thatsuddenly don't recognize themselves
in the mirror.
You know, they are, they knowthat something is happening to them.
They're starting to have thisanxieties or panic attack or disassociations
or whatever, and they look atthe mirror and they say, what?
(22:37):
Like a week ago I was fine.
I smoke weed or I drank mybeer in the pub with my friends and
suddenly I'm not me.
And they, instead of seekinghelp or telling people, listen, I
need help, or something iswrong with me, they are try.
(22:58):
They are trying to deal withit, like you said, on their own.
And this is the worst thingthat can happen because after a while
when they cannot deal with itand they see that being drunk will
not help them and being stonedwill not help them, and it penetrates
everything.
(23:19):
Or after years interruptbecause they didn't process the experiences
they had in the military.
So then.
Everything erupts and thenthey feel they can never be themselves,
them again.
And sometimes it hurts them somuch, they just try to.
They just think, I better takemy own life and end it.
(23:45):
And so what I suggest topeople, first of all, I think it's
a lot about the family.
And I really hope for anytrauma survivor or mental illness
in general to have a strongfamily, supporting family, because
if the family sees that youare suffering or sees that you are
(24:10):
different, it will help.
And I think that.
People should know that thereis always a hope.
And for me, even in my worsttimes, and I can't tell you that
I didn't have any suicidal thoughts.
(24:31):
Of course every one of us saysit, but, you know, I always add this
hope that I will get this pillor that treatment that I. I'm not
already trying to be 100%because it will never happen, but
I'm trying to be more balanced.
(24:52):
And I'm feeling that wheneverI have a good day is an amazing day,
and whenever I have a new bookor a new achievement.
It'S an amazing achievementfor me.
So, you know, I.
Embracing my amazing family.
(25:14):
Ellie, my wife, she's amazingin, in embracing me and, and, and
accepting my, me as all withmy PTSD and my three sons as well.
You know, they are aware andthey know how to, to deal with me
and how to accept me.
(25:35):
And I think for people, theyhave to know that life is worth living.
And there's always a way totake, to change the treatment.
You know, if you haven't triedemdr, if you haven't tried this kind
of treatment or there's somany today, so many treatments that
(25:56):
some of them, you know, areeffective more, more and some are
less, but you have to try in,you know, for the sake of your life,
which is important, and forthe sake of your family.
That would be very sad if youend your life.
You have to do everything tobe as balanced as you can.
(26:18):
And, and I think, Chief, thatwhat you said before about groups
are one of the best optionsfor people to.
Especially people that don'thave those, this support, you know,
or don't have this.
Thing like I have, for instance.
(26:39):
Writing.
Writing gives me an amazingway of, of healing.
Of processing, of dealing withfeelings and with demons and, and
I think that for people, theydon't, that don't have it, they can
have groups, they can go tothe forest and have bonfire and talk
(27:04):
with other guys thatexperiences the experience the same
situation.
And it always.
It always helps to, to hearother stories, each other, you know,
those kind of supporting groups.
Yeah, Ish.
Thanks Issue.
(27:24):
Thanks for bringing all this up.
And, and one of the thingsthat's super important is, you know,
to have a battle buddy and tohave somebody you can confide in.
If you don't have A family.
If you don't have this, it'sthe groups, the, the things you need
to surround yourself with good people.
There's so many things and Iknow we're coming to the end of our
time and I want to giveeverybody a chance to, you know,
(27:45):
if any, any last words forsure for you and I'd love to bring
you back at some other time as well.
If you want to come back onthe show, that'd be great.
And if you want to get a holdof Ishi, you definitely can through
me.
But if she feel free to giveout any information that you want
people to have.
Obviously he's on social media.
He's on my social media so youcan find him if you see him on my
(28:07):
social media.
He's got a lot of really goodposts and he puts out some more awesome
stuff.
Go ahead, Ishi.
I just say that first of all Iwould be, you know, honored and grateful
for people to write me and I'mtrying to write everyone back I helping
also veterans in Israel.
(28:28):
But you know, anyone that willask anything, I will.
Support you can find me, likeChief said in my website in my social
media.
And also of course course ifyou want to read dog you can find
it in Amazon or Barnes andNoble or everywhere today in the
(28:48):
U.S.
I think, I think really I, Inot be it's of course it's important
for me because I wrote thebook but because I know what is it's
done in in Israel, I canreally tell people, veterans and
their families that it veryimportant book to read and to learn.
(29:10):
I can tell you that the national.
The Israeli National Librarymentioned DOG as one of the best
literature pieces about PTSDever written.
So I suggest and I'll be gladand honored to have people read it
(29:33):
and let me know how what theythought and if it helped them in,
in what kind and you know,thank you for, for, for this stage
and I'll be honored to, to beanytime you, you, you want.
You know, Chief, it's a veryimportant and amazing show and amazing
work you're doing and youknow, Israel veterans, the US Veterans,
(29:59):
we're on the same side so it'salways pleasure.
Well thanks and thanks for youknow, sharing your information and
all this, all the stuff thatyou got going on, important work,
important stuff that you'reputting out there as well as on your
social media.
I know you show the calmnessbut there's chaos within our minds
at any given time.
(30:20):
We need to find that balanceand we need to find ways and avenues
of hope.
You know, you talked aboutthat and that that hope can be from.
Hey, you know, like I lookforward to my warrior groups.
I look forward to all mysupport networks.
I look forward to my battlebuddies as I need it and I look forward
to all the things that keep memoving in a positive direction.
If you lose that hope, thensometimes you lose your life.
(30:41):
So you can have all thesegreat things like you said, showing
great, great stuff but in yourmind that chaos can really take you
down and take your life eventually.
So if you're in those cases,if you need that, that help and support,
obviously look at the PTSDfoundation of America.
There's a warrior group everysingle day online.
You can reach out to them atany given time.
Camp Hope has a six to ninemonth treatment facility directly
(31:01):
related to combat vets supportand all that other stuff.
And yeah, until next time,hey, this is combat vet vision.
Strength and honor out.
The only way and we neednothing more.
The only way Together forever.
(31:23):
That's for sure.
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