"I mean, when I came off heroin last time, it made my flashbacks ten times worse. But, like I said, being addicted to the heroin is what numbed my senses, my feelings, my awareness to that pain. We lost one guy in country. We’ve lost triple that here state side from suicide, drug addictions and BS here state side." When did you know you were addicted? Is it a moment? "You never know that you’re addicted. Because if you did, you would never become addicted. I don’t mean to say this to you or belittle you in any way, because I understand that you’re trying to find out information and get different points of view with the situation – but if we all knew that we were addicted, who would be addicted to cigarettes? Who would be addicted to alcohol? Pot? Coke? Crack? It doesn’t matter because once you realize that you need it every day, you’re already screwed because you’re to that point where you need that to survive, to complete your day, to make you feel complete. Thirty years old, I was twenty nine when I did it. The first time I ever did it, guess what? I’m a grown ass man – raised my right hand, signed myself up for the army. I got children. So guess what? At the end of the day, I let somebody put that needle in my arm." I met Jonathan Dugin in Watertown, NY. He was in the Army until 2007 and saw some of the heaviest combat in the military while deployed. He was six days sober from heroin when we talked. He shared with me about his experience of dealing with the daily struggle of staying clean and what keeps him going. Listen to North Country Public Radio to hear Jonathan's story. Coming soon. #findingamerica #homefrontfortdrum #ftdrum #fortdrum #ftdrumny #veterans #veteran #heroin #addiction #ptsd #militarystories #militaryportraits #army #humansoffortdrum #humansofthearmy (at Watertown, New York)
