guy in vr talks about their worst day as a soldier 

Anakin: "I worked in a Toys R Us" Younglings: *profuse sweating*

Ah yes, the military, “you get to go to college for free, and in exchange you give us -your mental health- everything”

The fact that he is using Anakin Skywalker as his avatar while talking about his experiences as a soldier to VR Pooh Bear makes it feel more complete somehow.

"Pretty sure he has lung cancer and just won't go to the doctor cos he can't afford it" - the American Dream, people

This guy: we were literally inhaling cancer and killing people Pooh: 😊

general skywalker and his therapist the chinese president.

Let’s be real if Vader had a sit down and heart to heart with someone like pooh, the empire would’ve been gone much earlier

I was in the military myself. Honestly VR chat helps a lot of us who suffer from PSTD. It is honestly like going to confession for Catholics. Only way I can explain it.

Anakin: “I felt like I was dying” Winnie the Pooh: “🙂”

“The AC-130? From like Modern Warfare 2?” “YEAH MAN” this is gold

Glad my Cold War veteran father talked me out of signing up after 9/11. Time seems to have proven him right. “They’ll play on your patriotism, chew you and your friends up, then spit on you.” I had a deep sympathy for this man. I heard my father cry out in his nightmares, or when he drank, about his buddies.

everything else aside, he’s an amazing storyteller. i can picture every scene as he’s explaining it

This poor dude seems like he just wanted tell this story for so long but never found the right person to tell this too, until he met vr pooh bear.

Him describing all the guys in his bunk with obvious neurological disorders... Like those are literally the symptoms of lead poisoning. that's so nuts.

As a kid, I was told that anyone who went into the military had it made. I didn't go in the military, I was disqualified due to reasons. I felt regret. Now, I have passed four decades, and every military person I have known personally has some kind of health or mental issue. Every. Single. One. I don't know why the military breaks their soldiers so hard. We have an excellent military, but after the people get out, we fail them. I wish we could help them better, they deserve good treatment for all that they protect.

"I killed a tree and then two people under it." There's something so sad, yet powerful about what he said here. "I killed a tree" is not a phrase many people would opt to use. I guess it's just goes to show that being put in a situation where you are made to take a life, just makes you more aware of all the forms it takes.

The fact that he’s Anakin Skywalker seems fitting

My CO told us "fuck the rules of engagement, you get yourself out alive and let me worry about the politics afterwards". That's almost an exact quote.

"I felt like I owed everyone, without feeling like I owed myself anything" I can relate to that one brother.

Feel like we're going to hear lots of these stories from Russian and Ukrainian soldiers

“War is agreeable to those who have never experienced it”

“I mean it never worked for em, but they tried” that’s a fucking soldier right there

Humanity is fucked, we just keep doing this to people. He seems like a genuinely cool guy and I hope talking it out helped him.

I was one of the ground guys during the 2010-11 push into Farah and Helmand as 12B with 1-4ID. Without air support I'm not sure if I would be here. I feel for you, your story hits home. Be kind to yourself and those around you. Keep being a voice, you're on point.

Anakin: *Reflects on the horrific soul crushing reality of war.* Pooh: :)

In Afghanistan: “I don’t like sand.”

You can hear the pain in his voice when he recounts these stories. Glad he got this outlet to share his experiences.

VR is unironically a surprisingly good medium for storytelling. I liked that at 11:12 he was able to use body language and hand gestures to express the environment, just as you’d do if you were telling a story in real life. Helped paint a more visceral picture in my minds eye for sure. There’s probably something to be said about the anonymity of the internet making traumatic stuff easier to speak about, paired with how VR can make a story more compelling or gripping by way of making it feel more like an in person experience.

Imagine this. you are a veteran soldier telling your worst day as a soldier in a game where one is dressed like Winnie the pooh and you're dressed like Anakin Skywalker from the clone wars series

There's something morbidly comedic about the soldier's model being Anakin.

Just started considering military, this set me straight.

I wanna thank Syrmor for taking the time to listen to this story. Not many civilians want to hear about the messy parts of GWoT without throwing in their two cents or judging those of us that did the best we could as human beings in very inhumane circumstances. It's takes a compassionate soul to truly listen and gain some insight on how the war went down and how it affects those of us that were there and carry this weight. Big props for putting forth the time and effort to create and share this with the world. It gives an invaluable, unbiased insight into the struggles each of us in the veteran community have with what we experienced. To Struggle: Thank you for the courage to share your story brother. Each of us carry scars on our souls from the GWoT and what we experienced. You're definitely not alone in this. Even though I was already done with my time in the service before you went in, my unit had help from your brothers in the JTAC/Gunship community in my trips overseas, they saved our asses on multiple occasions. Don't ever feel like what you did was for nothing or let the bad experiences taint the gratitude we knuckle draggers extend to you. The RoE sucked. ISIS and the Taliban being cowardly enough to use women and children as shields, or even worse sending them to carry out attacks... that especially sucked. So many of our brothers and sisters on the ground and in the air have stories where unfortunately civilians got caught in the crossfire or bad intel or poor comms led to the wrong target or simply having to make a gut call in a shit moment and seeing it go belly up and sideways. I've buried brothers in the years after our time in the war because they couldn't forgive themselves but felt too much shame to reach out. That is the worst pain in the world. Even if you never meant for this to be a tool of encouragement when you chose to share your story that day, that is what this serves as now. To Struggle and any other veteran that may stumble across this: Keep being honest about your struggles. Keep talking about it. Peace is a precious treasure for us that sometimes we find hardest to keep in our grasp, but if the veteran community sticks together, it's easier to hold onto to. Celebrate the good memories. Celebrate the dumb shit you did with your brothers to waste time. Celebrate the memories of brothers and sisters lost, and keep diligent to do your best and be your best every day living the fullest life you can to honor the sacrifice and memories of those that no longer have the chance. Much love to you and all those in the JTAC and air support community from myself and all the other knuckle draggers of the 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne.

This guy: gets fired from Toys r us *Enemy AC-130 Above*

I love how this sounds like a story that Anakin or a clone trooper would tell. And then there's Pooh just *staring. Invested.*

I had a friend that had the exact same thing happen. Young stoner encouraged to go into the military. He came back completely mentally destroyed. Ended up taking his own life. I am glad that this guy seems to be coping ok. These stories need to be told ❤

This guy has my total respect. Not just for his service, but also for taking a moment to unpack and share all of those feelings. Good on you, Struggle!

“I felt like I owed.....everyone, without owing myself, anything.” Those words hurt.

The fact that the man confessed all his experience in a war towards winnie the pooh

This video hits deeply in the soul. The utter, horrible reality of war. Nobody should have to endure war. It's so awful, but our leaders will never stop sending kids out to face death and trauma. It hurts knowing that so many soldiers will never, ever be okay again.

It's so nice that video games can be used just to hang out with people and talk about stuff anonymously. Life is so isolated nowadays with social media and dating apps that it's good to see people get their social needs get at least a little met on game servers.

"SCORE! They shot at us!" Jesus, man...

Him using the Anakin avatar makes me think he’s talking about his experience in the clone wars

This guy is incredibly articulate and tells these stories vividly and honestly. He's been through it.

this was an incredibly opening listen just hearing him share these stories w such vulnerability

"I felt like I owed everyone without feeling like I owed myself anything." That one struck home pretty hard...

Respect to the other guy for letting him tell his story uninterrupted

I could listen to this guy talk about his experiences forever

The pain they went through, physically and mentally, salute to those people

Why isn't vr therapy a thing. I'd feel way more comfortable opening up about the shit that's happened to me with that sort of disconnect from myself

This man is extremely lucky that he was emotionally intelligent enough to have processed all this and still be alive on the other side

The part about how the civilian deaths affected him brought tears to my eyes , this man has pain he carrying man , any vets that open up to you man just listen and be the ears they need man make em know they appreciated and made the right choice in their situation man could be the difference between them thinking nobody cares and understands and doing something dumb to themself man they feel shit too

I used to consider not signing up as one of my biggest regrets in life (still kind of do) But listening to this guy talk, as a gunner, about as removed as you can be, amazing individual. And this was a guy that got fired from toys r us. Really Thanks dude You are amazing for sharing

Anakin telling us about his military experience is like him describing his most traumatic experiences in the Clone Wars

everyone says "AC130 ABOVE!" but no one says "how is AC130 above"

Loved this man's story, and I really hope he's doing well. All the best to him

These are the veterans I respect. Not every veteran is a “hero.” But these types of guys? They gave it all

This can be used as a primary resource on a kids research paper about the Afghanistan conflict in like 40 years

It is both so fitting and so sad that he’s using the clone wars skin

This was so heartbreaking and fascinating at the same time. Thank you for your service. I hope you’re able to heal and move on from the events that happened in your military career

was just watching the short preview when your scrolling and got hooked. hope this guy is doing better now and glad you sat there and listened to him openly. i’m sure he really needed to tell those stories without someone judging, budging in and asking questions.

i was really hoping Winnie the Pooh would be the one telling his war experiences

The general Anakin skin from the clone wars literally makes this a bajillion fucking times more captivating.

18:45 “Ignorance is bliss” PTSD is real. There is no going back once you open the bottle, the only way backwards is forwards. Sincerely, 12-yr active duty soldier, Army Skills Identifier, Suicide Intervention NCO.

I was robbed in a home invasion about three years ago around this time. On top of being robbed I was going through this horrible relationship. The depression I felt afterwards was so visceral. Nothing made me feel better for a while. This video helped me for some reason start to feel better. It was like therapy to me. Thank you and the guy you interviewed from this video. Helped me get my emotions back on track.

I feel like it’s easier to see all this happening being that he’s using Anakin

Solider: gets PTSD and other sickness’s USA Military: damn we kinda not care

PLEASE DO MORE OF THIS. There are probably so many more stories like this and it’s so important to actually hear the horrible things going on in the military

12:07 is so deep. so many chills, it really goes to show we are just another animal, but with a conscious

Story: Dark Winnie The Pooh for the whole video: : )

100% of the people I've talked to who have worked at Toys R Us have joined the Air Force... Coincidence? I'm too old to believe in coincidences.

This is really cool and honest. Thank you for making these interview videos. Really helps to hear other peoples struggles.

This is the greatest use of vr I’ve seen somehow combining the anonymity of vr and the relief of a heart to heart, +1 sub

"is it weird that I don't feel anything?" That fucking hit me HARD

This guy: taking about his horrific time as a soldier Winnie the Pooh: **Interesting**

"Is it weird that I don't feel anything?" This got me because I've felt this same feeling in my own life. The human experience is strange and we all process it differently. Love these videos.

Dope VR delivery of an incredible story. Great storyteller... amazing story, please elevate this, more of us need to hear my man. Cheers 🥂

And when the world needed him most, he returned

Fuck. There's a reason they called him Struggle. That shit sounds brutal

Your not alone warrior wev been their we still stand together we still remember and thank you for sharing your story

The fact that his avatar is Anakin Skywalker and he was taken into the Air Force is just so coincidentally good

_"I felt like I owed everybody, without feeling like I owed myself anything"_ Man that hits hard :c

* President of China interrogates a captured American soldier. Circa 2021 *

I just came back to this video after 3 years. Remember how I felt the first time, and was just as sucked into it this time. This video is fucking art.

Thanks for your service and your badass story. we need more stories now.

Tell that soldier, as a taxpayer, he doesn’t owe me anything. I’m glad he’s home and I hope he gets the help he needs.

Anakin Skywalker explains his time in the clone wars

Thank you for posting explanations for the acronyms, really quality work!

I love how Winnie the pooh listens so intently. Shows you how much he cares.

Pooh was smiling but was like : oh shit thing's just got stickier than honey.

I loved this, the fact that there’s some anonymity to this. Not everyone likes to sit in front of a camera and talk.

My father in law served and still serves to this day seeing this breaks my heart.

I come back to this video every 3 months or so to listen to Struggle's story. It's such a tragedy, but the fact that he keeps pushing to this day is a testament to what a fucking inspiration he is.

"Stocker... n-not stalker but like stocker." Every grocery/retail store stocker felt that

the emotional maturity he has, and the self awareness, not all have such a good head on their shoulders

Man Symor thank you for this. I hope Charlie is doing okay. I’m glad to hear stories like this…it’s heart wrenching all around.

as a starwars fan, listening to anakin talking about gunships, what a time to be alive

He sounds just like Anakin, physically and emotionally.

This, unironically, needs to be mandatory viewing for basic

Can’t imagine what that must have been like - I’m so grateful to you for your service and at the same time so sorry for all that you’ve had to experience and process. I pray you find peace.

Thank you for the video. God bless you all and stay safe 💗 Thank you to all the strong people who risks their life's constantly for us.