Moral Injury: "This thing exists and there is a pathway home from it." - Tango Alpha Lima EP306

In 2003, Marine infantryman Ryan Roberts helped recover the remains of 18 comrades killed in the battle of Nasiriyah, many by friendly fire. The next day, his fire team stopped a vehicle at a checkpoint. When he opened the back door, he found two children aged four and six.⁠ ⁠ He had joined the military to protect the innocent. In doing the right thing, he violated that core value. And no one — not in 17 years of VA care and private treatment — ever gave him the language for what that did to him.⁠ ⁠ On Episode 306 of The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast, Roberts and Dr. Lynette Averill, trauma scientist at Baylor College of Medicine, explain why moral injury is not a variant of PTSD. ⁠ ⁠ Together they discuss what healing actually requires, the promise of emerging psychedelic-assisted therapies, and why peer support and community may be the most critical ingredients the clinical world keeps leaving out.⁠ ⁠⁠ Tap related video for the full episode.⁠ ⁠ legion.org/tangoalphalima⁠