Honoring our Veterans: How I Found Something to Believe in After Vietnam and Addiction

I needed some direction, some place to go. I decided I was going to join the Marine Corps. It was just me desperately trying to grab a hold of something to believe in. As I look back now, my whole search, my whole life has been searching for something to believe in other than me. In my mind, I’m gonna go to Vietnam, I’m gonna be this big hero and die. Well, didn’t work that way. I survived Vietnam. Yeah, I got wounded, and as bad as that sounds, I was one of the lucky ones. The next thing I knew, and this is where the trauma for me started, I’m back home and I was supposed to somehow just become a husband, a father. I just couldn’t do it, I absolutely couldn’t make sense of anything, nothing at all.

Bio: Chuck Blomberg is a Purple Heart recipient for his service in Vietnam. He was the inspiration behind his daughter Jillian’s Kalon Project which is bringing hope and inspiration to people in Sioux Falls Area and beyond. Chuck is 38 years sober and has been working with fellow addicts for over 32 years.