This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter . They told me boot camp would be hard. They told me combat zones would change me. They told me the streets would be dangerous when I pinned on the badge. What they didn't tell me was how quiet it would get after. No one prepares you for the silence. No one tells you that you might survive everything and still wake up years later