The Real World... and War. Who knew?

So as I'm watching The Real World tonight, yes I still watch it, I get more teary and teary as the episode goes on. One of the "Real Worlders" is an Iraqi war veteran at the age of 23, and even though this is known, the whole episode focuses on that. He visits veteran centers, walks in a Veteran's Day parade, goes to a gala for soldiers... and at the end gets the dreaded phone call that he has been called back for active duty. Boy did I bawl. The episode that aired was filmed back in November after the elections, and he had just shy of 2 years left where he could be called back. And he did. I think I only know one person (to my knowledge) that has served in the Middle East, and we have never really talked about the experience. He had a friend who wrote a book that I purchased (Link) about some of his experiences, but have yet to read. But now I think I want to start it. Getting to know this person on the show was a pretty close connection to understanding personalities and emotions revolving around this topic. To someone without close friends or family in the military, the topic can be so abstract at times and you don't really let the emotions in. I did tonight. It's just awful. I 100% support those that serve... I just can't wait for the day that they don't need to anymore.

This is a current interview with Ryan about what happened.