Wounded Veteran Rebuilds at GU

Cpl. Michael L. Jernigan (Ret.) is one of over 23 million veterans living in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2004, Jernigan was blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Since his injury, Jernigan has shared some of his experiences in a blog for The New York Times called "Homefires," traveled throughout the country speaking on behalf of wounded veterans, and spent time volunteering for charity, including increasing the awareness of veterans’ affairs. Sill recovering, Jernigan is finishing his education at Georgetown.

It seems you have handled your injury and post-Iraq adjustment relatively well. What inside you motivated you to pull yourself together and act so heroically after your injury?

I would not like to say that I acted heroically. I was not ready to die and I like to think that other people put in the same situation would do the same as myself. I did not handle the adjustment as well as everyone thinks. I battled depression and some alcohol abuse. I had a traumatic brain injury and was verbally abusive to those around me. My front temporal lobes were severely bruised. This is the part of the brain that controls a person’s social functions. This injury is what caused my verbal abuse. My first wife left me. I think that it was a combination of my behavior and the fact that the situation that we were in was extremely stressful that the marriage fell apart. I was left broke and devastated, and that contributed to the depression and alcohol abuse. Luckily, I had friends and family around me that helped get me [in] control of my problems and stopped what could have been a terrible ending to the quality of my life before I even got to fully recover. I have worked very hard to overcome all of the obstacles that have been put in front of me. I have tackled each one of them with the same drive and tenacity that helped me realize that I wanted to be a Marine in the first place. I got involved in charity fundraising and helping to bring awareness to wounded service members and what we go through in our recovery process. With that in mind I did a good job of keeping my personal problems out of the spotlight.

Could you describe some of the symptoms that you’ve dealt with during your recovery, and what recovery has meant to you? Additionally, what treatment or actions helped you most?

As I stated before, I suffered from a traumatic brain injury — “TBI.” With this comes a certain set of symptoms that can be misconstrued as post-traumatic stress disorder. I suffered from and still have lasting effects of some of these injuries: lack of empathy, anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping and aggression. There [are] also the complications with losing my sight in such a sudden way. I was required to instantly learn to live without sight. I also had my right hand disfigured and reconstructed. I am right-handed. I had to learn how to brush my teeth, eat, bathe and do other things like dress myself without sight and with no use of my right hand. Because of this I had a lot of frustration and disappointment. These are the things that I dealt with when I first came home, and I still deal with most of them today. I do have some symptoms of [post-traumatic stress disorder] but no one can say whether it is from PTSD or TBI or from having to deal with the onset of a disability like blindness. I am considered fully functional. In my case there are symptoms that overlap. I could and would have many of these same symptoms with each one of these experiences alone, I was lucky enough to combine them so I could deal with them all at once. One of the things that [has] helped me is writing. Warriors also have each other to talk to on an informal basis. I still keep in touch with some of those that I served with and we discuss reintegration quite often.

You have gone on to compose a spectacular blog and talked openly about your experiences, while many veterans have remained quiet. What made you decide to share your experiences, when so many others shy away?

[Writing] gives me a positive way to deal with what I have seen and done. Most of what I have written has not been seen nor will it ever be. I was given an experience to write for The New York Times Web site. I used that as a platform to help the public realize that just because I was blown up in a far-away land that I have recovered and gone on to live my life just like the 300,000-plus Americans that have been wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq since October of 2001. I have also starred in a couple of documentaries, the most notable one being an HBO film called “Alive Day” that was produced by James Gandolfini. My charity fundraising for Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc. in Palmetto, Fla., which is where I got my guide dog Brittani from, has allowed me to share some of my story to the public and use it to do some good for those that are in my situation. Just because some of us do not publicly talk about our experiences does not mean that we do not deal with them. The V.A. offers a plethora of different treatments from acupuncture, yoga, massage, to one-on-one and group therapy.

How are you enjoying your Georgetown experience? What do you plan on majoring in?

I am enjoying my experience at Georgetown University. I find it difficult sometimes to navigate the campus, but with a couple of questions I usually get back on track. I am majoring in Government Affairs. It is a fun program and I get to study different subjects that have always interested me.

You are an incredibly ambitious young man. And like many ambitious young people, I suspect you have some goals in mind for your future, even though you’re retired. What are some things that you would include in your 10-year plan?

First I would like to graduate from college. After that, we plan on moving to St. Petersburg, Fla., where I still own a house. I will find employment somewhere. My wife will not have to work and can dedicate more time to charitable activities like she wants to. We will also put our son through college so that he can become successful in his own life. After that, the sky is the limit. I understand that people need labels and terms like PTSD to relate to anyone like a disabled veteran. Some people think that we are heroes and make the ultimate sacrifice for America. I feel that I was just doing my job, my job just happened to be a Marine infantryman. I don’t think that anything I did was heroic. I enjoyed what I was able to do for my country and would not trade my life for anyone’s. People say things like, “despite my injuries” and, “all that I have had to go through” and do not realize that I wake up every morning and put my feet on the floor. At this moment I have to decide what kind of day that I am going to have — just like everyone else in the world. We are all in control of our lives. Whether we realize it or not, the decisions that we make can define us as a person and help us to live a productive and happy life no matter what the circumstances are.