Ryan Ackerman did three combat tours with 1st Battalion 5th Marines, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the first push into Fallujah in 2004, and a return to Ramadi. Then he came home.

"It was a roller coaster ride without a seatbelt."

In this conversation, Ryan tells Jeremy Stalnecker, his brother from the same battalion, what it took to come back from absolute rock bottom. The lying to himself. The running. The career on paper that was hiding everything underneath.

And the moment he finally stopped.

This is a conversation about what every man avoids until he can't anymore: the truth about who he is when the uniform comes off, the title fades, or the season of life ends. And why the only way back is through.

LEARN MORE
First Battalion 5th Marines Association: www.firstbattalionfifthmarinesassociation.org

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