This Veteran’s PTSD Made Him Vegan
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“Veganism brushes shoulders with a lot of things I experienced in the military one of em’ was this notion of speaking up for those who cannot for themselves.”
He admits that it started out as a selfish motive for going vegan as he was pushing 300 pounds due to his PTSD. He used food to cover up the things he had seen and experienced over in Afghanistan during two tours of duty for 27 months of his life.
He said of his experiences in Afghanistan:
“I think when that happens it’s almost like life forces you to stare at your own empathy.”
After returning home factory farming footage really “got under (his) skin” he says.
“You’re supposed to be this manly veteran meat eater guy and you come back and it entirely shakes your world up when you see…..just some terrible things happen to some animals, there’s some miserable, miserable, miserable, creatures out there that know how to feel things, their afraid.”
When he tried to go hunting again like he had always done he began feeling “extreme empathy” for the animals involved and couldn’t continue hurting them. This feeling extended into fishing as well.
Tom went from 275 pounds down to 190 pounds and he credits his whole food plant based diet with this along with his finally finding peace in himself and being back home.
See the full video from Million Dollar Vegan below.
