A Friendship Inspired through Invictus

Jason Israel – Veteran

Anybody who’s a Veteran or a VAC member who has had any injury deserves a chance at this. That’s the way it is. It’s not if you are missing a limb or you serve one day or you served a thousand days. It’s not like that. It’s if you served and you are injured you deserve the right to apply for this.

Cory Nowell – Veteran

Injured mentally or physically.

Jason Israel – Veteran

Yes, mentally or physically it doesn’t matter. You deserve the right. And I think that’s where this may be lost with some people like Cory. He’s thinking I am still serving. I don’t deserve this because I am not out yet. I still have my job. That doesn’t matter. He’s broken. He pretends he’s not. He thinks he’s a strong individual all the time. I see it every day. He needs it.

Interviewer:

Being part of Invictus last year what has that personally done for yourself and why do you feel it’s so strong to make that extra, that fellow comrade do the same?

Jason Israel – Veteran

So before my games I never told anybody I had PTSD. I have struggled with PTSD since 2005. I did two other deployments. I have done three in total to Afghanistan and I just struggled with it. And then one day my wife let me know that I was struggling with it. That’s when I decided I was going to make a difference. I was on my way out of the military and I said there has to be something else where I can stay connected because once you are out the military doesn’t really stay connected with you. The family, they have to move on, I get it, they have to move on so you are not totally connected. This is my way of being back and being connected. I went to my games, we had ninety competitors on Team Canada last year and I met a variety of people, unbelievable people. Some of them were athletes. There was a gentleman went who swam and didn’t win any medals. No one would have even noticed him but when you talk to him you so were engaged in him and his story was just so overwhelming and he told you I have PTSD and at the end of the day I was like I can tell him my story and I have PTSD and be like I have PTSD because of what happened in my life. I am proud of what happened in my life. I don’t’ blame anybody but we can all move past it. Just because we have it doesn’t mean we have to stop, right? And that was what he was telling me and like he was out for I think like twenty years and then he still came back and went swimming at the Invictus Games.

Interviewer:

I have done many interviews over my time and one of the questions I always pose is the camaraderie that soldiers share amongst the times when they are together and I am sitting here with the definition right in front of me bout camaraderie and strength and power in an individual. Congratulations guys for that and to keep such a positive approach because I know the word broken has come up a few times and it can’t be easy.

Cory Nowell – Veteran

Me and Jay have a strong bond. Our wives have been best friends for a long time so we have gotten to know each other really well. And we are different trades too. He comes from the infanteer world, I am an artilleryman, you know, we don’t hold that against each other.

Jason Israel – Veteran

I am better but… (Laughter!)

Cory Nowell – Veteran

I start off almost every day by receiving a phone call from Jason saying, “Morning Capt., how you doing? How’s your day? Let’s have a good day, train hard!” Because there’s been times when I just, you know, the day didn’t start off so well because I got two young kids and a wife and we get tired and things aren’t always cheerful. So getting that phone call from Jay helped me refocus. That’s part of that comradeship, right? That has kept me focused on the games and which reminds me of what’s important.