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Sir. Reporting as instructed.
Please, call me Paul.
May I call you Lauren? I'm sorry I'm late. Crazy schedule.
They call us Combat Stress but I think sometimes Combat Stress needs Combat Stress.
Alright, hang on one second.
Uh, boy, that is a hell of a smell out there.
What smell, sir?
What smell. You know, if the Afghans could have formed an EPA and the EPA got a sniff of that burn pit they would ***.
We try not to let it distract us.
Well, that's smart. You know, I have a feeling that burning cell phones and hard drives are kinda bad for you.
Sorry.
Okay.
That's such a pretty name.
Do you know what it means?
Do I know what my name means?
Yes.
Uh, yes, it comes from the laurel plant.
Yes, but what does it mean?
I don't know, sir.
Laurels signify victory. Resting on your laurels, laurel wreath, Poet laureate. It's a winner's name.
So, okay you come from a military background.
Yes.
Must be a source of great encouragement for you.
Yes, sir, it is.
So, what's going on?
Sir?
What are you doing here?
I did not request this interview.
Paul.
Paul.
Thank you.
Why are you here?
In Afghanistan?
At this interview.
I was instructed to come.
It's just an evaluation.
Well, I was ordered to undergo a psych eval.
And why was that?
I'm guessing because I filed a harassment claim against my fellow NCO.
Martinez.
Right.
Right. Yeah, I'm just going to set that to one side for the moment.
You're going to set that to one side?
Yeah, we try to look at the whole being. It's narrative based.
Would you mind sharing your story?
No, sir.
Where were you born?
I was born on the American base in Heidelberg, Germany.
And you grew up?
In Germany, Japan, and Virginia.
I love Virginia. Sic Semper Tyrannis.
I heard it was for lovers.
Is your family from there?
350 years of Virginian.
Which part?
North.
There's a lot of history up there.
Four out of the five first Presidents. Patrick Henry, James Lafayette.
Rebels.
Patriots.
You always had aggressive instincts?
Only toward the bad guys, sir.
And who are the bad guys?
Anyone who stands in the way of my government, sir.
You always want to be in combat?
First learned to shoot a gun when I was five.
So.
You recently experienced unwanted *** contact.
I was ***.
Do you want to talk about your feelings?
No. But thank you, sir.
So let's punt.
Sir?
Is there something you would rather be doing right at this moment than sitting here talking to me?
Yes, sir.
And what would that be?
I'd rather be shooting.
Great. I'd love that. Let's go do it. Right now. Come on, Staff Sergeant.
So, what about school?
As in high school?
Yeah, you have any conflicts with your classmates?
No.
You ever get suspended?
Yeah, twice.
For what?
Fighting.
Boys? Any trouble with boys?
I don't really care about wine and roses if that's what you mean.
How about your husband?
Honestly, we weren't really that close.
How's that?
We didn't really get to spend that much time together.
We met at Fort Mcnair and I'd just come straight from basic and he'd already done a tour in Iraq and we began a relationship.
So the pregnancy was unplanned?
Wasn't exactly expected.
How did you feel when your husband was killed?
What would you like me to say? That I was devastated?
That my whole world swooned in front of my eyes?
Or that I wondered how I was going to explain to my daughter that her dad doesn't exist.
Or would you like me to say that sometimes when you serve your country you come home and sometimes you don't.
Or sometimes you come home but you're a broken person and you can't cope and sometimes you come home and you're broken but you cope.
Do you have a child, Dr. Milgram?
Yes, I do.
Yeah, then you know what it feels like to look into the eyes of your baby and see that perfection and wonder if you're going to be the one to destroy that.
Or if you'll be able to protect her from losing her sense of wonder at everything she sees and hears and feels.
Does that answer your question?
I'm gonna throw out some symptoms. Tell me if any of them ring a bell. Sadness, hopelessness, fear, anxiety,
trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, feeling overwhelmed, thoughts of suicide.
Any of those apply?
Yeah.
Which?
All of the above.
Okay, I'm gonna prescribe Ambien and Prozac. Guys say it helps in combat.
Sir, I don't really want to take any drugs. Anything else?
Let's shoot.
Yes, sir.
Nice.