Ryan Kranc was traveling with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment near Ramadi, Iraq, on July 23, 2003, when his convoy was hit with an improvised explosive device.

Kranc, now an Army major, survived. His commander and friend, Capt. Josh T. Byers, did not.

Six years and two full combat tours later, Islander native Kranc has committed himself to recovering from the emotional wounds sustained on that day in 2003.

While serving in Saudi Arabia in 2009, he notified his command that he had a problem. Although he had sought counseling before, Kranc decided he needed more intervention. He entered treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for six weeks. Kranc said the traumatic events of the war have forever changed his life, but because of his treatment he can now move forward.

Now stationed in Kansas, he wants to share his story in the hope that other service members suffering from PTSD will realize that they are not alone and there is nothing wrong with asking for help.

“When I came forward and said I needed help six years after the fact, I had nothing but support from my chain of command, and I think that by and large, that’s the predominant attitude in the Army now,” he said.

Although Kranc chose to fight his battle with PTSD head on, he said that doesn’t mean he’ll stop grieving for his friend.

“I don’t mean to say that people need to get over it,” he said, “because I think there are certain things, particularly in traumatic instances, that you want to remember. You want to remember that you were sad because your friend died. You’re honoring them and there’s nothing wrong with being sad. But I think it’s also important to remember that I don’t think your friend would want you to be so incapacitated that you could not go on.”

Kranc said he has had no stigma from being diagnosed and treated with PTSD and no ill effects on his career. Kranc has a mantra for coping with PTSD:

• It’s OK to be human.

• I can’t control everything.

• It’s acceptable to grieve.

It’s OK to be sad. It’s also OK to move on; it’s OK to continue forth and do your best for the better of the team to honor their memory.

“You’re not broken. You’re not damaged,” Kranc said. “You’re not mentally unstable. You’re human. You’re having a natural reaction to an unnatural occurrence or extraordinary act.”

Dr. Patrick Armistead-Jehle, a clinical neuropsychologist at Munson Army Health Center, has treated many soldiers such as Kranc.

Armistead-Jehle said patients do not have to experience a combat deployment to have PTSD symptoms. They can come from any traumatic event, such as a car accident or sexual assault.

Armistead-Jehle said there are three categories for PTSD symptoms. The first is re-experiencing the traumatic event, such as having a nightmare or flashback. The second is avoidance or emotional detachment. The third set of symptoms are arousal, such as insomnia, being startled, hypervigilant or “snapping” at friends and family.

Some of these symptoms are normal after combat, Armistead-Jehle said, or even helpful during deployment. When service members have conditioned themselves to be hypervigilant for a year, it takes time for them to re-integrate back into garrison life, he said. When these symptoms begin to interfere with daily life on a long-term basis or are severe, service members should seek help.

Kranc said he experienced the typical symptoms of PTSD: mood swings, apathy, loss of interest in activities that he used to be excited about. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t get specific images out of his mind. He was angry and restless.

Kranc said one of the worst feelings was survivor’s guilt.

“There’s a guilt associated with the converse, ‘Thank God it wasn’t me’ — it becomes this cyclic process of: Why me? Thank God it wasn’t me,” he said. “There’s so many different emotions that get wrapped up in this critical event.”

“You’re never going to forget it, it’s always going to be a negative memory, but it doesn’t have to drive a person’s life,” Armistead-Jehle said.

Kranc said it wasn’t easy to admit he was experiencing PTSD.

“I would say, the quickest way to find out if you’re different is ask people around you,” he said. “And spouses are good at this.”

When Kranc returned from his first deployment to Iraq, his wife, Molly Kranc, began to notice changes in her husband. He was angry, he had trouble sleeping and she noticed he was drinking more alcohol than usual. At first, she thought the alcohol itself might be the problem.

“He had a really short fuse, and you almost felt like people had to walk on eggshells around him,” she said.

Molly Kranc said her husband’s behavioral issues would come and go in waves. It wasn’t all bad, she said, and when the problems started, she and her husband both took action and got counseling.

About a year after his first deployment, Ryan Kranc deployed again. Molly Kranc said that looking back, the redeployment was a big part of her husband’s issues because he didn’t have much time to spend with his family and re-adjust to normal life.

Molly Kranc said the hardest thing for her dealing with PTSD was when her husband pushed her away.

“I think spouses are probably pretty well aware of PTSD,” she said. “I just want to encourage them to try to not take it personally … if [service members] could just snap their fingers and get better, they would.”

She had to learn to be patient; she couldn’t force him to get better, and she had to keep trying to convince him to get help.

“We would like to think that we wouldn’t abandon our loved ones if they were sick with a physical ailment, and it breaks my heart to see families give up on their soldiers,” she said.

Ryan Kranc said that while he experienced no stigma from seeking help, he understands why service members might be nervous about discussing something they can’t control.

“I think the predominant mindset is, ‘I’m not broken, I can fix myself, there’s nothing wrong with me, why is everyone fussing about this?’” he said.

Ryan Kranc said that because service members are well trained and competent in their fields, it’s easy to build up a mentality that he or she can do anything.

“People are so used to being in the driver’s seat, particularly leaders in combat,” he said. “They call the shots, they have all the resources available to them in a combat context, and they can do things at relative ease within their own safe-house setting.”

The major said it takes an incredible amount of courage and honor for a service member to say they have an issue and to deal with that issue.

“And it’s one of those things you can’t do alone,” he said. “You can’t self-medicate. You can’t compartmentalize it because over time, that pressure builds up, sometimes to a catastrophic effect.”

Since her husband sought treatment in Germany, Molly Kranc said she has noticed a change. Ryan Kranc said family is his highest priority, and he is using his time at Fort Leavenworth to be a good husband and parent to Audrey, 8, and Benjamin, 3.

One of the best things, Molly Kranc said, is watching her husband get involved in giving back to the community. The Army major has been training for a pair of triathlons this month and he has raised more than $5,000 so far in private donations for the Wounded Warrior Project.

“We’re just moving forward with life in a normal way. We enjoy each other’s company — there’s more laughter and fun in our house,” she said.

Used by permission. The Fort Leavenworth (Kansas) Lamp.