Marines Launch Theater Show on Trauma

Raw, personal, and musical. In the theater show Vleugel Vrij, two marines join forces to raise awareness about mental health in the military world—and far beyond. The message: "You are not alone."

"It was 2009, and I was on a multi-day patrol in Afghanistan. Just as the next vehicle reached the spot where we had just been, there was a deafening blast. The heavy vehicle was lifted like a feather by an IED. I grabbed my medical bag and ran toward my comrades. One of them had lost a leg. He was fighting for his life. That image kept replaying in my mind like a bad movie. It pushed me to the edge. The only choice seemed to be to give up, to quit."

Then, Marine Sergeant Robin Imthorn removes his chest rig and takes off his helmet. "But maybe I could still do something. To embrace that uncertainty, the pain, the fear. If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be standing here today."