Articles for category: Reflections from the Road

Military Goodbye Trauma

The military has jargon—terminal leave, short-timer’s syndrome, pre-deployment grief. But none of those phrases capture the moment your closest friend walks away toward a gate, not daring to turn around. You feel his ribcage tense. Yours caves in. That’s not just loss. That’s psychological trauma from saying goodbye when no one gives you the tools to do it.