John Evans

Back from Broken

Colorado Public Radio

Society & Culture

5 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2021

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John Evans was a directionless young man who felt a calling to join the military after 9/11. What he witnessed in Iraq rattled him, and he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction for years. But he found help, and now he spends his life helping other veterans who are struggling. This episode was adapted from "Soldiering On," a Back From Broken virtual live event presented by Colorado Public Radio and the American Homefront Project, a nationwide public radio collaboration exploring veterans' stories.

Back From Broken is a show about how we are all broken sometimes, and how we need help from time to time. If you’re struggling, you can find a list of resources at BackFromBroken.org.

Hear more music from John Evans on his YouTube channel.

Host: Vic Vela
Lead producer: Luis Antonio Perez
Editor: Dennis Funk
Producers: Jo Erickson and Rebekah Romberg
Music: Daniel Mescher, Brad Turner and Blue Dot Sessions
Executive producers: Brad Turner, Rachel Estabrook

Thanks also to Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Matt Herz, Martin Skavish, Kim Nguyen, Francie Swidler.

BackFromBroken.org
On Twitter: @VicVela1

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Vic with a quick note.
0:02.3	This episode contains strong language and discussion of suicide.
0:06.9	Please be advised.
0:08.9	In three, two, one.
0:13.3	John, let's start with 9-11.
0:16.5	Where were you that day?
0:19.2	I was actually on a job site. Car, carrier circle Syracuse, New York.
0:23.8	I was suspended from school at the time.
0:26.4	At any time I'd get suspended, my dad would put me to work.
0:29.4	And I was up on a roof, tar on a roof for the construction crew.
0:33.5	I remember somebody came up and said, hey, you got to get downstairs.
0:36.8	And they had it on the TV, and
0:38.3	said, a plane just hit the towers, and everybody standing there watched the second plane hit the towers.
0:43.3	I remember there was a veteran on the work crew. He was a Desert Storm veteran.
0:48.3	When he was muttering, he's like, I don't want to go back. He already knew. He was like, we're going.
0:53.3	I mean, immediately. We're going to
0:55.9	war. We're going to go to war. The call to arms following the September 11th attacks
1:04.3	would prompt John Evans to join the military when he was still only 17 years old. In 2002, almost immediately after completing
1:13.5	his training, John would be on the ground in Iraq. Enlisting to fight in the war on terror
1:19.6	gave John purpose and focus after enduring a difficult childhood. But what he experienced in war
1:26.5	would only add trauma and send him spiraling into addiction
1:30.9	and mental health problems. John's story says a lot about the battles veterans face even after
	...

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