Soldier copes with PTSD volunteering around farm animals

Since joining the U.S. Military at 18 years old, Viet Tong has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder — but has a unique way to cope with it.

ABC-7 shares his story for National PTSD Awareness Day.

"I have done a lot of stuff, or experienced and seen a lot of things, that has weighed a lot on my shoulders," Tong, a U.S. Army Master Sergeant, said.

The 38-year-old has been in the military for 19 years.

Tong's been to five combat tours — three in Afghanistan and two in Iraq, where he served right away as soon as he joined.

"It's kind of forced you to grow up really quickly, seeing things that a normal 18 or 19-year-old should not see," Tong said.

Tong struggles with sleeping, being around large crowds, and even holidays like Memorial Day, thinking about several friends he's lost over the years.

He also says that PTSD has been dramatized in movies, and he wants people to know what it’s really like, at least in his experience.

"Sleeping was probably the hardest thing, because we do have some recurrent nightmares, actions that you kind of relive in your mind over and over," said the soldier. "But it has gotten better since I have sought help."

But Tong's also military police — and he one day decided to do a team bonding activity outside of work, which turned out to be volunteering at KNJ Therapeutic Riding.

He brought out 50 to 60 soldiers to help out on the ranch, but this volunteer work did more than just team bonding — it’s helped him cope with PTSD.

Ever since, he's felt more relaxed coming home after being with the animals, cleaning and taking care of them, and even building things for the ranch.

"It's helped me a lot because I was able to just get away from the busy City of El Paso, a busy base of Fort Bliss, and come out here and just be with the animals and having one common purpose, which is just taking care of these animal and volunteer and giving back to the community," said Tong.

He shared one last message for the community — Soldiers with PTSD don't want to be treated any differently than anyone else.