Drill Sergeant First Class Alexander Stewart of Warwick is on a personal mission to ease the mental pains of others with post traumatic stress disorder. He created something that he hopes will help not only those soldiers but also civilians that have never served to understand military members a little better. It is the book of his experiences in poetry: “Unspoken Words; The Thoughts of a Soldier.” He brought his story to Rotarians of the Warwick and Goshen clubs last week.
Sergeant First Class Alexander R. Stewart has fought in three combat tours, including serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. He knows first-hand how valuable it is to have someone just listen and not dismiss mental health issues caused by traumatic experiences.
“Throughout my time in the service”, he has written, “ I have seen many terrible things and have dealt with the aftermath of experiencing those things. I personally understand the internal struggle that those around us cannot see, and thus, I wrote this collection of poems in order to help veterans and active members of the military understand their emotions and potentially deal with them in their own way though my words.”
Too often, he told Goshen Rotarians, victims of PTSD will be told things by others like “you volunteered, you knew what you were getting into.” He added that he has a soft spot for others who may be suffering as well — firefighters, EMS professionals, first responders.
One roadblock to getting help is that there is also a stigma attached to those living with mental health challenges. After all, he shared, “we are supposed to be strong and are often treated as weak if we bring up” what is haunting us.
While seeking help from the army, he was continually told that if he was not a threat to himself or others he would not get a mental health appointment. At one point, he did almost take his own life. When he finally did get a behavioral health appointment, he said, the army’s usual schedule is one visit per month for a year.
Sergeant First Class Stewart did find his own outlet for expressing himself. It was on paper through poetry. One of the poems helped a psychiatrist he eventually did get to see to, in his words, “get it.” It also helped in his own family for them to begin to feel what his pain must be like.
When we see the published military suicide statistics, he said, sometimes it becomes so common to see them it is easy to gloss over them without much thought. In 2022, 493 serving military took their own lives. Today, he personally knows 33 of those who served with him who have died by suicide. His brother also committed suicide.
To raise awareness of the 22 service members/veterans who take their lives every day and to remember and honor those who are no longer with us, every month he holds a physical fitness challenge event that encompasses the number 22.
He says that if he hadn’t spoken out and had a circle of people there for him, his may have been a different story.
His description of having mental health challenges is like belonging to a “private club that no one wants...it’s self-loathing...and in the military it means you can’t do certain things” once you have the stigma.
So, for anyone thinking they want to help, his suggestion is to offer empathy instead of sympathy. Just tell whomever it is you hope to help know that “I am there for you if you want to talk.” Let them know it’s “okay to not be okay.”
His own way of support is to speak to groups, share his poetry with those who are struggling or for those who hope to have some idea of the struggles. His book of 20 original poems “Unspoken Words, The thoughts of a Soldier” by Alexander R. Stewart includes titles such as: “Fireworks,” “The Letter,” “Take a Knee,” “Incoming, Incoming, Incoming!” and “Broken Switch.” It is available on Amazon. For him the book “is a work of heart that seeks to provide insight and understanding to those who have struggled to understand military members — and to allow struggling soldiers to open up to their loved ones about their challenges.” (From the back cover).
SFC Stewart travels on his own time at his own expense to share his story and encourage those in need. His impressive biography includes membership in Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the National Society of Leadership and Success.
His email is: alexander.r.stewart12@gmail.com; Facebook: Alexander R. Stewart-Author & Speaker; Instagram: @alexanderstewart.
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