National Defence committee  I knew that if I came in uniform, there would be even more backlash. So I thought, hey, this is a way to.... I'll just kind of walk a fine line, and...I'll wear my medals.

National Defence committee  No, but I did hear with other soldiers...so I wanted to avoid that issue.

National Defence committee  I feel like I'll be more of a target now to be released. So yes, absolutely. If you're in for 10 years, you're entitled to a partial pension. If you're in for 10 years, then you get this partial pension and it's indexed. It's not MP money, right—

National Defence committee  —but it's corporal money, which is okay. My biggest goal was to try to get to my 10 years. This is just going to put a giant target on my back, but again, I wouldn't have missed.... I couldn't miss it. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

National Defence committee  A year and a bit.

National Defence committee  Yes, 5(f) is.... It would be devastating, just because I have a long, rich military history. It would be.... Yes, it would be absolutely devastating.

National Defence committee  With regard to my insulin, I don't know; they didn't relate my diabetes, or my diabetes-type symptoms, to it, even though it happened at the exact same moment. Veterans Affairs didn't say, “Oh, that's what that is, that's exactly from that explosion”, even though the minute I got

National Defence committee  Yes.

National Defence committee  My back hurts. That's about it. Is there anything left?

National Defence committee  Because I'm still in the army, I'm not entitled to any of that, which isn't a big deal, because I'm still getting paid, so I'm not worried about that. The biggest thing is that I'm 29 years old and I have no idea what my future holds. They always say, “Wait until you're released

National Defence committee  Yes, I did.

National Defence committee  I almost didn't come to speak today. I got a phone call, because I am still a serving member, and I was very intimidated. I was told to report to Shilo right away and, to quote them, “Get a fucking haircut.” It's devastating, you know? The reason I am talking here right now is

National Defence committee  They didn't say “Do not speak”, but they said they wanted e-mail confirmations that I was invited here. They wanted to know exactly what I was going to say. In the past, I was told by higher-ups to go through with my real estate. No one expected me to be a success. Once I was, I

National Defence committee  I just want to make sure I've got this right. You want to know what happened after I got blown up? Where do you want me to start?

National Defence committee  Okay. When I came to, I was on fire and had to pull myself out of my vehicle.