When Sinners Like Me Come Home with National Guard Veteran Steele Kelly

Steele Kelly is a 25-year-old Army veteran deployed twice in Afghanistan. He served as a cavalry scout and forward observer for the field artillery, transitioning to operation resolute support from operation enduring freedom. 

“I was in denial that I had changed and the world changed me at all. And I wanted to go back to the person I was before war. I didn’t want anybody else to see changes in me, like my family, my mom, any of my friends. And It’s kinda where the issue started.” – Steele Kelly

Steele Kelly – Changed by War

During his service in Afghanistan, Steele sustained compression fractures to three of his vertebrae. This forced him into medical retirement. It was the beginning of his struggle with re-integration, and a deeply-set mental health issue.

For a time, the honeymoon phase after going home was enjoyable. But soon enough, his denial of the fact that he’d been changed by war caught up with him and began making it difficult to assimilate back into civilian life.

Fighting the Stigma

Steele has heard of the perpetuated stereotype that needing to talk to a professional means being unfit for combat, that you somehow lack, or that you’re weak. Worse still are the risks of marking your career or being stigmatized, a label that you may never get away from.

This is the very reason that it took him a very long time to come to terms with what he’s going through.

“I was upset because at the same time, I missed that guy that I was before war. But I knew now, everybody sees that I can’t go back to being that guy.” – Steele Kelly

Confronting the Truth

Steel spiraled down into the caustic cycle of anxiety. He went through a falling out with his mother, failed medical appointments, a breakup, and seeing his own cohort struggle and leave the mortal realm before he finally acknowledged that he needed to help himself.

One morning he woke up, backpacked, and climbed up a mountain. Today, he’s an author and a pre-medicine student who wants to take up the role of the doctor who will help the veterans who struggle, just like he did.

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Check out these links for Steele Kelly

• Website – Steele Kelly
• LinkedIn

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