EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Fighting in Iraq took a heavy toll on Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Patrick, damaging his hand, injuring his brain and causing him to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Also wounded by combat was Cpl. Patrick’s relationship with his wife. The couple were married shortly after he returned, yet Cpl. Patrick refused to talk to his wife about the war. Sometimes he yelled at her.
The pair marked their first anniversary this past weekend at a Marine Corps retreat that took a decidedly nonmilitary approach to saving marriages: combining classes in communication with massage therapy, yoga and meditation. It’s an effort by the military to ease the strain on married couples when soldiers return to civilian life after long, repeated deployments.
Navy Chaplain Dwight Horn devised the idea after returning from Fallujah, where he witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in the war.
“It just opened my eyes. I began to see a lot of issues that needed to be addressed,” said Chaplain Horn, a member of the Marine Corps chaplains’ program that organized the retreat. He also had trouble resuming life with his wife after returning from Iraq.
The first-of-its-kind program is called “Warrior Couple Readjustment Retreat.” Joining the Patricks were 12 other couples, mostly wounded Marines and their spouses from Camp Pendleton.
Massage lessons and yoga are designed to help couples relax with each other.
Cpl. Patrick, wounded in Fallujah in November 2006, was skeptical about yoga, with its “spandex and funny music.” But he was willing to try anything to preserve his relationship with his wife.
“I wasn’t willing to admit I had problems. Now that I am getting help, things are a little better,” said Cpl. Patrick.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.