Captain Jason Pace tries to treat symptoms of depression and stress without medication. He believes that there are burdens a solider must carry inside that may never be lifted.
"They see civilian casualties," he said, "and [for] some of the soldiers, it's even harder when they see their own casualties. They see a buddy next to them that gets injured or killed, and that's a heavy emotional burden to carry with them. In my career, I have had friends and fellow service members killed in action. That's hard. You carry the burden of asking questions: Why? Why them and not you?"
This series of interviews looks into soldiers' personal experiences of serving in Afghanistan through what they carry physically and emotionally throughout the experience. The series offers a larger look at what America, as a nation, will have from its longest-running war.
This series is inspired by Tim O’Brien’s Pulitzer-nominated book, The Things They Carried.