and honor those who really make a difference. >> for the next hour we want to share a number of stories that 10news and our broadcast partners have put together to bring light to a serious problem our vets are facing as they come home. >> this is an issue that ultimately effects you. we are calling it charlie foxtrot. try to feel what they felt. we will be talking about a panel of veterans to get their reaction >> we want to know there is some graphic video. we also want to warn you some of the images and video you are about to see will be gruesome. this is why so many of our troops are coming home forever changed. tonight we introduce you to

>> it's about being smart, lethal, fast soldier. you don't know who the bad guys is. you don't know who the good guy is. kill or be killed. the moment you drop your guard, you're done. >> they train you how to go to the deployment, but they don't train you how to come home. >> we have just got to do more for them. >> charlie foxtrot is a disorganized found one. we confirmed since 9/11, 300,000 people have been kicked out of the military with a less than honorable discharge. the reason they were dropped by the military is often linked to medical conditions or a suicide attempt. they are stripped of their benefits, when what they really need is help. this is their stories.

>> one of the trade center towers has collapsed. >> september 11, i have to go. >> september 11th happened just a few miles from where i grew up. it seemed like the only thing i should do with my life. >> 9/11 happened in september, and i ended up joining up three or four that. >> desert storm, desert shield, those are the bad guys. you see them. you kill them. that's what we do. that's what we train to do. afghanistan completely different.

bodies. there was nights where we'd have to sleep in our gas masks as we slept because we were in fear of something getting in in our systems. >> you are buttoned up in this 8,000 pound humvee, you know, with bullet-proof glass. it was like a beautiful spring day. there were butterflies. you know, you make jokes. there are butterflies in the air. about that time there was just a it really rocked the vehicle. he just runs into the vehicles and explodes. and those are the concussions that take people's hearing and shake you to your core. it's like a car accident that doesn't stop sometimes for two

>> we were hiding. basically, our little patrol that day, we were hiding behind some hills. as soon as they started setting up a car bomb came across the road. across the median. a really gross day. there were over a dozen bodies. all men who had been tortured and they had packaging tape wrapped around their eyes. i wasn't looking directly at the faces that i had to photograph. i mean, i had to take close-up photos of every person that was tortured and killed. >> kids get shot. i felt like i lost a piece of my soul. i didn't have it for a long time. >> it haunts you. it haunts you. i don't care if you are face to

happen to pull the trigger first, you never get that visual out of your mind, watching that other person fall. the only thing he or she did was not being in the right uniform. >> we turned around real quick. slammed the truck in reverse. the support officer behind me, we went running up, and by that >> what was his name? >> luke. he was a kid. awesome. the medics just tossed a bag of

personal uniform stuff and just said he didn't make it, turned around and went inside. by that point we had lost a lot of guys. i remember walking away, helmet that way, loaded rifle that way to my knees, and we still had to go out for that mission night, food and stuff, and it was hard. with luke dying, not feeling like you can discuss

to ya. i just disappeared. i stopped going to work. what the hell? everything. yeah, the v.a. for all these years would tell me, sir, our computers say you are not a veteran. and who the hell? you know, like excuse me? it was definitely like they just dropped me.

there was nothing. no help. >> this is just an overview of what some of our veterans are going through right now. >> there certainly so much more. we are so honored today to have a panel of veterans joining us, bringing us their reaction to these stories and these issues. we will talk to them when we

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you might know charlie

your friend, your neighbor. maybe it's you. for our veterans, chances are they served next to charlie foxtrot. we are so honored and pleased to have with us today four veterans from tampa bay representing each branch of the service as well as phil buck. phil, you all watched this first piece together? >> difficult not to have an emotional reaction to what we just for your service. thank you for your time here on this veterans day and thank you for your perspective because that's what this is about, and we are very anxious to hear what you thought about what you just saw. let's begin with you. >> well, my perspective is from the vietnam era and two tours in vietnam in a different environment. we weren't deal with the volunteers. we were dealing with people that didn't want to be there. at the same time in the workplace i run into people who

and the bottom line is somehow, and this is really strange, they feel more at home in a combat environment where they are experiencing fear than in a home environment where they have a fear of not being accepted, not being understood, and worst of all not being supported. >> yeah. andrew, you're from a younger generation of veteran? >> watching that video you could see a lot my age. i served from 2003 to 2007. a lot of the problems i had. i joined out of high school, and the reason i joined was for 9/11. some of the things that i do now, i kind of look back and say, you know what?

awareness is because something like 9/11 is torn through so many lives, families, veterans. and it's everybody. like you were saying earlier, it's your neighbor. it's your friend. it's a colleague. somebody you may even work with. so a lot of the struggles that come after the post-9/11, it's hard. as a younger generation, having to deal with what happened on 9/11 and then coming home to not quite to the extent of what happened with vietnam, but not everybody on the same page with why you joined in the first place. i joined because i watched 9/11 happen. that was my reason. and i don't regret one moment of doing it, but it's just raising awareness because,

any ptsd or emotional issues to date. so it's -- you have been very lucky. >> and that's really the thing. we want to raise awareness. that is the goal of charlie foxtrot. we are going to continue to bring you these pieces throughout the next hour. we have our panel here and we will touch base with them.

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welcome back. our troops are forced to do so many things against their morals and, as a result, those try to escape those feelings. some of them take action they are not proud of, but it's all they can do. >> some go awol, abuse drugs or alcohol, or attempt suicide. those actions get you kicked out of the military, and get this, no longer considered a veteran. >> [ bleep ]. that's what general essence of all logic. surprisingly, they don't stop themselves either. the transition from military service to veteran, general absence of all logic. . >> it's about being a smart, fast, lethal soldier. >> you don't know who the bad

is. kill or be killed. the moment you drop your guard, you're done. >> they train you how to go to the deployment, but they don't train you how to come home. >> we have just got do more for them. >> i loved the military. i always knew i was going to go in. i served in the band of brothers. i think it just came to a head and i snapped. about six months went by that i just don't remember much, the

the pain and passing out and -- or blacking out. not wanting to tell anyone that that's happening. the v.a. for all these years would tell me you're not a veteran. and then they want to see my actual paperwork. so they see the hard copies in front of them, and then tell you, okay, but my computer says it's not. sorry, you can't come in. disgrace is the biggest understatement ever for that. >> if someone comes to us who served in the military who is a veteran but they have an other than honorable discharge, we are by law not allowed to treat them. congress sets the terms on who we are allowed to treat and what the eligibility criteria are. >> they volunteered to serve. they didn't volunteer to get ptsd. >> i feel like we're doing

military. and he may look okay and he may function okay, but they don't know what we deal with. i had faith that, as an american, our soldiers would be treated, and that their injuries would be compensated for. i was naive because i believed in the system. the system doesn't work. it's a broken system. i miss that intelligent, fun-loving son that has been taken from us. i miss that. >> when you got word it would be upgraded, how did you find out?

brag and then strangle those that -- yeah, i mean, it was not quite retribution, not quite relief, but awesome because i knew from that day that i would get better, i guess, you >> i was a sergeant before my 21st birthday. i was really good at my job. taking photos of dead bodies, that's not like the one thing that left me with post- traumatic stress disorder. hearing explosions in the distance and not knowing if my friends are dead. it was getting shot at from who knows where, you know, with bullets bouncing off the

i was punished for attempting suicide. i mean, they threatened at one point to charge me with damaging government property, meaning myself, which is ridiculous. a pattern of misconduct generated from ptsd, that's not dishonorable conduct. that's symptoms. could you imagine missing, you know, the first year of your child's life to serve in combat, and then to be told by the v.a. you're not a veteran? and a veteran who has an other an honorable discharge, who is not allowed to get treatment at the v.a., who is more likely to be without a job, who is more likely to be homeless, who can't get a diagnosis from the

healthcare, how are they supposed to prove that they have ptsd if the v.a. locks them out? the medical expert that they had in the room was an orthopedist. >> reporter: an orthopedist? that makes no sense. >> it does to the army. they were following the letter of the law at the time. >> reporter: they just needed a doctor? >> they just needed a doctor. dermatologist? >> exactly. so i was contending that post- traumatic stress disorder and depression were the reasons why i attempted suicide, and an orthopedist decided that that wasn't a legitimate case. >> you hear about those invisible battle wounds, but what you don't hear about is

>> this is so little discussed. that's what is so shocking about all of it, and you had said that even though it only effects a small percentage, ultimately, it's much bigger. >> this is a huge issue. if it affects one veteran, it affects too many, in my opinion, growing up in a military family. we have fewer of 5% of americans that will ever serve or understand what goes on in the military. >> we have at our website all of these stories that you have seen different links and phone numbers to help anyone you know that may need it. we will be back tampa bay is amazing. i work here, i raise my kids here, i evencare of my mom here. but you know what? i could use a hand. hey! we hear you!

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we have been sharing over the last 30 minutes a number of stories that we have put together to bring light to a serious problem our vets are facing as they come home.

ultimately affects you. it's what our broadcast company is calling charlie foxtrot. many of you know someone who has come home and something is off. you are not quite sure what it is. young soldiers or those starting off don't get intense training about post-traumatic stress disorder or other issues. most are just taught how to transform from a civilian into a soldier. >> go faster. [ bleep ]. >> have you ever been scared? >> you know, that sheer moment of terror?