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Extraordinary Profiles
“For some reason I’m mentally attached to this house, I can’t explain it, I don’t know why, I don’t know how it happened. But this is the place where I feel safe. I don’t worry about bombs, I don’t worry about killings, I don’t worry about wanting to kill someone and I don’t worry about wanting to kill myself. For here right now, that’s the safe zone. There’s no other way to explain it.” Since returning from Iraq, Younce’s perspective on life has taken on a new meaning. He takes one day at a time, doesn’t worry about tomorrow and forgets about yesterday. As a matter of fact, he often barely remembers yesterday. Life is an ongoing struggle but he continues to press on, although sometimes when he awakes, he wishes that he hadn’t. Younce has been receiving care through the Veterans Administration but the trauma he experienced was so devastating that he realizes only time will heal his wounds. When asked if there was a particular incident in Iraq that caused him to be in his current state, he replied, “There’s the killing of people. One thing that I remember quite often is this guy that was taking aim at the gunner behind me who got ambushed. I probably remember it everyday to be honest. It’s like a visual that comes into my head like it is right now because I’m speaking of it. I ripped this guy in half with my machine gun, a young kid. I can see his face, probably in his 20s. How many children does that leave? It’s those things you think about. How many other people have I killed that were in the distance? You just don’t know because you get ambushed and you just rip and tear into anything around that’s a threat. How many people did I kill?” Exceptional People Magazine had the honor of speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Younce about his experience in Iraq. EPM: You said that you really wanted to go into the Army. Why were you attracted to the Army more so than any other branch of the military? Younce: That’s a really good question. When I was a young kid I was in something called Civil Air Patrol -- an auxiliary of the Air Force. Even though we were part of the Air Force, the Air Force didn’t send many recruiters. We were supposed to be a really good source for them to get kids to recruit into the Air Force program. But the Army would send recruiters all the time. They would have all these neat things - posters, toys, just neat things. So when I grew up, it was like the Army is where I’m going because recruiters were always there trying to recruit us and they seemed neat. All I wanted to do was serve my country. I still cry when I hear the National Anthem, whether I’m in military uniform or not. I just love my country that much. EPM: You love it enough to obviously be in the position that you’re in now. You’re definitely dedicated to serving and protecting your country. July-August 2009 | Exceptional People Magazine | 11