Just to reiterate some things you said, having another veteran to talk to would always be fantastic. I find that whether you served in Afghanistan, Korea, the Golan Heights, or Bosnia, we don't care. We know it was different times, and that's fine. I've been to Bosnia and Afghanistan twice now, but I can still talk to somebody who was in Cyprus, for instance, in the 1970s. I'm fascinated by stories when the Korea veterans talk to us.
It's just a matter of talking to a veteran, somebody who's been in the system, who knows and who understands. As a veteran, you can talk to other veterans more freely and you find that when you are talking to them, you see in their face that they understand. You can almost be—I don't want to say weak, but you can be more open about how you feel or some of your frustrations, because it's okay to talk to another soldier about that.
When you're talking to a civilian, you don't want to. It's just part of our training. It's part of our thought.
I joined when I was 19 years old. I got sucked into it all and I believed it all. I see that some of my friends now and some of the troops that I had to lead are going through these same things. They're coming into the messes and they're talking about it to each other. They don't want to go to their teacher and tell them. When you try to explain to your teacher, an employer, or anyone, someone in VAC—it doesn't matter where or what you're trying to tell them—it's difficult to express yourself.