Every time Oxford resident Steven Patterson looks at the small scar on his arm, he remembers the worst night of his life.
The memory comes easily. Talking about it is harder, the 26-year-old retired Army scout said.
“I can recount a little bit, though,” Patterson said during a Tuesday phone interview. Patterson served in Iraq between 2006 and 2007. He is in Baghdad this week on a return trip to Iraq that he hopes will heal the wounds left by memories of his night of scout service on Memorial Day 2007:
“There was this helicopter that went down. It was our off day,” Patterson, who has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, spoke in short, simple sentences.
“We went out on a rescue mission to recover the pilots. We ended up getting hit by two 80-pound propane tanks filled with HME, home-made explosives, and we lost five guys, including my gunner … and I was charged with the job of having to remove the bodies to take them to a more secure area.”
Read more:Anniston Star - Oxford vet finds healing in trip back to Baghdad
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Oxford vet finds healing in trip back to Baghdad: "Steven Patterson lost five of his friends on a tragic day in Iraq. This week, he's back in Baghdad, looking for closure."
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