When Mark decided to talk to a doctor, he chose one with whom he had already developed a deep respect for: Dr. Dan Sutton, a SEAL team doctor, a regular physician. When there was a mass casualty in Afghanistan, the largest loss of SEAL life in history, Dr. Sutton and Mark were intimately involved when the bodies were brought back through Dover, and their remains returned to the families.
“Doc Sutton went to Dover and was with everybody that returned,” said Mark. “As a result he more fully understood what combat stress was all about he knew the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and its disorder.”
Mark was also watching people coming back, including the wounded, the remains, and those who had no visible injuries to their bodies. “I understood that there were post-traumatic symptoms going on within the field community and with the guys returning from combat,” said Mark. “There were just an incredible number of deaths that happened in Afghanistan. The smells of rotted flesh still clung to the equipment that came back.”
Mark knew that Dr. Sutton had been doing a lot of reading on PTSD and comparing notes with what he observed in the troops coming home. “I told him that I would like him to start informing us on what he was seeing, so that we could keep our commodore, the guy in charge of all the SEAL teams on the East Coast, informed. We had a great working relationship with each other,” said Mark.
Another instrumental player in Mark’s life at that time was the Group chaplain, Cory Cathcart, who had also been doing a lot of reading and research about the effect of combat stress.
“So through what I learned from the chaplain and the doctor, and by Marshele getting counseling, I realized that I was one of them,” said Mark. “I was one of the thousands of service members with PTSD.”
Great Physician, heal us of the pain of our yesterdays and our todays.
“Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.” (Psalm 86:3)