Veteran's Voice | September 3

Soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, school house circle on me. Uncover, take a knee, and drink water. Welcome to the Veterans Voice.

Throughout the upcoming issues, on a bi-weekly basis, this section will bring you interviews of the people trying to make a difference in our veteran and warrior community, while we’ll discuss and report on the issues and events that affect veterans in their daily lives. You can consider this your new S6 and S2 sections. The S6 is the communications department and the S2 is the intelligence department in the Army.

I feel it’s important, at this point, to introduce myself. I am George “Tubby” Schmidt. I am a veteran myself. I served as a Navy Corpsman from 1995 to 1998 with the 2nd Landing Support Battalion (LSB), and 2nd Field Service Support Group (FSSG) in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1999, I joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, where I served with the 1/112th, later with 28th Divisional Support Command (DISCOM), and in 2005 I deployed to Ar Ramadi, Iraq with the 288th Field Support Battalion (FSB) as a computer technician in the Combat Service Support Automation Management Office (CSSAMO) section.

Upon my return, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and was discharged honorably from the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. I am currently receiving treatment through the Erie VA hospital, and am enrolled as a sophomore here at Edinboro University. I have been involved with my local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post, as well as my local American Legion post.

More so, I am a member of several online veteran organizations.I have also been married to my wonderful wife, Nicole, for 15 years. We have three children. Because of my children, I am involved with several local youth sports organizations and the Girl Scouts of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

It is my intent to make this column not only one of discussion, but one of healing.This is not simply my bi-weekly column, but it is also your chance to voice your opinion. I would like to hear from you, our local veterans and anyone with concerns about these topics. What are some of your concerns? What would you like to know more about? What are some of your questions, not only of me, but of the Edinboro community as well? You can contact me at: veteransvoice.spectator@gmail.com.

Until next time,

***Nothing Follows***

RELATED ARTICLES