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November 2. 2011
^ortlani» (Observer
Page$r
Adjusting to Life after Combat
Soldier just wants to
be welcomed home
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Under strict military policy, a
gay lover would not be welcome
Mrowczynski, 32, a native of at his deployment ceremony.
Eugene, does not want to be Mrowczynski stood alone as a
thanked for the year of service he massive crowd of soldiers said
spent as an infantry soldier in their goodbyes to surrounding
Iraq; he just wants to be welcomed loved ones. “Everybody else's
home.
family was there except mine,” he
Six years after his deployment, said.
he is adjusting to life in the
Even after a year-long hell in
Tualatin suburbs. When crabbing Iraq, wherein the first few months
at the Oregon Coast, canning a ‘terrified’ Mrowczynski survived
home-made jams, or relaxing with his first improvised explosive de
yoga, he momentarily forgets the vice and witnessed a fellow sol
traumatic year of combat over dier die, he was still not greeted
seas.
by his closest loved one at his
He is among the one in three return ceremony.
U.S. veterans of the post-9/11
Compared to the violence that
military, according to a recent poll caused him Post Traumatic Stress
by the Pew Research Center who D isorder or “scatter b rain ,”
believe the wars in Iraq and Af Mrowczynski said keeping his
ghanistan were not worth fight sexuality hidden was easy. Not
ing.
flamboyant as many in the military
By his own experience, believed gay men to be, he said, “I
Mrowczynski recommends that no never fit the bill of what peoples’
one join the military, “We have stereotypes of what homosexual
two illegal wars going o n - I don’t ity was.”
want to see more people involved
Though he talked on the phone
in it.”
with his partner, he avoided shar
He shares a litany of problems ing family stories with other sol
he faced in active service and upon diers. He kept a photograph of a
his return to civilian life.
female friend in his wallet to cre
After graduating high school ate the impression he was straight.
in 1996, military recruiters encour
When Mrowczynski left the
aged the 19-year old to join the military, he returned to Eugene
National Guard under the persua and graduated from University of
sion that he would be granted Oregon with a sociology degree.
scholarship money in return for But like a million other graduates
his service. He became a ‘tanker hoping to get a decent job in the
by trade’ and was stationed in worst economic slump this coun
Fort Hood, Texas from 1998 to try has ever seen, he was disillu
2001.
sioned by the poor prospects.
Sometime later, Mrowczynski
He was told that his Veteran
met his partner. As a gay soldier status would add points to his
enlisted under Don’t Ask Don’t resume on state and federal jobs
Tell, he had to keep his love and that would put him ahead of civil
family life secret.
ian applicants. But with only
tanker experience in the military to
Noah Mrowczynski plays music less often since he was in the
service, but living with his partner, George, he is discovering new
enjoyments that help him adjust to a more peaceful life, like
caring for his two dogs, three cats and four chickens.
Because
every child
needs a safe place
to run and play.
Veteran Services Seek Volunteers
Volunteers are needed to help
improve the quality of life for vet
erans within the community.
Washington County Disabil
ity, Aging and Veteran Services,
which serves over 3,600 veterans
and their families each year, are
recruiting volunteers to help them
coordinate claims and appeals for
veterans benefits.
The volunteers provide admin
istrative support, including the
upkeep of files, record keeping,
researching case topics, computer
data, telephone services, and spe
cial mailings.
Needed skills include a basic
knowledge of office practices and
procedures, an ability to effec
tively alphabetize files correctly
and efficiently, good organization
and communication skills, and an
ability to maintain confidential
ity.
The time commitment is flexible
on most days and times. The Vet
eran Services office is open in
Hillsboro, Monday through Fri
day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., located
at 180 E. Main Street, Suite 208.
If
in terested ,
em ail
Rebecca_Tabra@co.washington.or.us
with a resume or call for an appli
cation at 503-846-3087.
a sociology aegree, ne got
no job offers.
Mrowczynski finally found em
ploym ent after applying to
Verizon, apparently a pro-military
company. Today, he works for
Frontier Communications, a com
pany that gives preference to vet
erans with degrees.
But he is still running into ob
stacles to Veterans benefits.
In attempts to purchase a house
with a V A loan, he and his partner
were told that they could not
qualify as domestic partners. The
couple needed to be married.
'So now we can serve our coun
try, but were not going to get the
same benefits?" he said.
When he applied for benefits
for his PTSD, he stopped taking
his medications, so they would
believe thafhe needed treatment.
He expects to get 30 percent of his
costs reimbursed.
Mrowczynski said it wasn’t
until he returned from Iraq and
began classes at U of O that he
began
to
question
the
government’s reasoning for in
vading Iraq, "K now ledge is
power. We were kept in the dark."
"They sent me to Iraq, for what
reason? I still don’t know,” he
said.
duck
Let's make safe places to play
a priority in our neighborhoods.
Go> multco-itstartshere.org