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My name is Meghan Erin Meade, from East Moriches, New York I served In Kirkurk Iraq From 2006-2007. Prior to serving overseas I was serving under title 10 at my Base (active duty) and attending Stony Brook University as a full time student. Since my return I have not returned to school and am no longer full time at my base. I spend the majority of my time working a number of jobs and spending time with family and friends.

To me one of the things that I was not prepared for when I got home was how different I felt. The whole time we were overseas through all the holidays and seasons all I dreamt about was returning home and all that I would do. I played my dreams of my first week home in my head over and over again making sure that when the day came I would be set and know exactly what to do and who to see. Then we landed in BWI where we got aboard another plane C130 that would be our final flight home and as I boarded the flight I got nervous, I remember looking around at all the men I had just served with being thankful we made it home safe- but nervous.

See my family was great but I felt in a daze I no longer wanted to do anything but sleep. The first night.... was the quietest night of my life, who would have thought getting used to quiet would take time.

I didn't feel different but I felt as though I was treated different. I come from a small town and everywhere I went people thanked me, people I didn't know came up to me and thanked me. Walking around I felt as though I had this air around me that people knew what I had been through, that first week the one time I felt at home and like myself was with my boyfriend (who I was overseas with) and the other men we were away with. They told us before we left that there was no bond like that of those that serve together... I didn't know what they were talking about until we returned. It is a year and a half later and I consider those men I served with to be family.

The group I served with was a group of 13. We returned home on March 9th 2007, Not only did we have to difficulty of returning home after 8 months of service but on the first holiday we were home to celebrate, St. Patty's day March 17th 2007, one of our own,my boy friend) Paul F. Hawkes Jr., was killed. We were home just short of a week, our first holiday with our families and we didn't spend it with them- instead all of us including Hawkes spent it together at Southside Hospital in Bayshore in ICU. As a team we said goodbye to him on the 23rd. Coming home was a roller coaster of emotions and still a year and a half later I feel most comfortable when I am surrounded by those 12 men I served with no matter where we are or what we are doing something about it always feel comforting and right.

I am currently in the ANG as a guardsmen as a Security Forces Member.
I waitress, work at Pottery Barn, county center clerk temp employee, guardsmen in the air national guard and help out one of the men I served with by watching his kid in the morning and putting him on the bus for school.
I am constantly searching for a good job with benefits however with this economy it has been very difficult to find one although I am constantly taking civil service exams in hopes to get a well paying job with benefits and "normal hours of work" sometime soon.

The VA was great for me however it is far to get to so my advice is to be organized and get as much done at once as possible because going back is hard. I was injured overseas and should be getting disability from what I am told. However, due to my busy schedule and how far the VA is from my home, I have still not started the paperwork that is needed to get what should be awarded to me. If I could do it again I would take those 2 weeks you are given upon return and make sure to register with the VA and make myself go and do everything on their checklist. It may seem tedious but they know what they are talking about and it really is designed for veterans’ benefits.

If I could say one thing it would be to support the troops no matter what your individual views on the war are, it is so important to support the troops both overseas and at home. If we know and are reminded that people are behind us it makes all the difference.
I understand it is hard to not support the war but to support the troops but however hard it may be it is necessary for morale & soldiers pride to know our nation is proud of us and with us in what we are risking our lives for.