As part of the awareness of how life as a military Veteran impacts on mental and physical health, and to coincide with the 2022 Invictus games we host Eric Herrera a Military Veteran , Eric talks about his experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ,mental health breakdown and suffering from Hearing loss working as a front-line Combat Engineer Eric is one of many front-line military veterans who experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorders and Mental health breakdown after devoting their time and energy to serve in the military to save others.  Eric started his military career as a young 19 year old . .As a college student he didn't fit in and he was really confused at the point of making decisions on what to do with his life when he was kicked out of college, he decided to join the military as a combat engineer ! Little did he know he would be clearing mine fields and searching for roadside bombs on a daily basis . Initially deployed to Germany as that was one of his choice locations because of his German heritage , however he was later deployed to Baghdad in Iraq where he knew no one as part of the US military troupe sent to destroy Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and end the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein . He had to adjust and adapt fast to the environment going out sometimes riding on special army vehicles called Buffalo army Trucks going to landfills , on his first job his team discovered one hundred and twenty six roadside bombs ,they regularly found Improvised explosive devices (IED) also witnessed his colleagues having bombs detonated in their faces, even losing his military colleagues who he refereed to as brothers on Christmas day of 2006 when everyone else was celebrating. They died on duty when giant cylinder bullet IED's , detonated on them ,no one was out to help them , even when they got back still processing the incident mentally they were asked to go back out again the next morning , he eventually left the military but had recurrent  nightmares about these incidents until he wrote his book which he titled A Bomb Hunter's story -My life clearing the Roads of Iraq . Eric's experience as a Combat engineer also left him with hearing loss , Post traumatic Stress disorder PTSD- He then had a mental breakdown ! He offers useful advice to other military veterans based on his learning curve and having to tow a long path rehabilitate  into his community post military service. With President Putins war ongoing in Ukraine I know there are thousands of Military and non -military volunteers at the war fronts daily ,and most will likely end up experiencing similar issues as Eric whilst going through post war rehabilitation into their communities , however I hope the advice given by Eric helps them through the difficult times ahead of them , I hope Eric's story inspires other military veterans to continue living a fulfilled life even after they leave the military service. episode also accessible  @ https://pod.link/1522556528 Love This Podcast ? Support us at buymeacoff.ee/TheMeadeMusings or paypal.me/meademusings   #NewepisodePodcast #applepodcast #podchaser #Podbean #spotifypodcast #indiepodcasts #playmorepods #Gaanapodcast #podcastsonamazonmusic #BulhornPodcast #MillitaryVeterans #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #LifeontheWarfront #HearingLoss #AdviceforMillitaryVeterans #InvictusGames2022 #2022AttackONUkraine #ImpactsonFrontLneMillitaryPersonnel