In 2018 I was informed that a guy I knew and served with was going to be overnighting in a place just outside of Edmonton Alberta, on his way across Canada on a motorcycle ride to raise money and awareness for the so called PTSD injury.
This guy, I mentioned, and I served together, along with a lot more men, in the former Yugoslavia on Roto 0.
I would eventually reconnect with a lot of those men because of this ride, we call The Rolling Barrage. I apologize ladies I got out as women were entering the infantry, but since that time a lot of women infantry have served.
My intention was to surprise this guy just outside of Edmonton, but what Scott Casey had organized ended up surprising me.
Until joining TRB in 2018 I thought I was your typical pissed off grumpy veteran, I knew nothing about PTSD. After spending only 3 days with The Rolling Barrage,the Alberta legs, and talking to those on the ride, I started to question my way of thinking and the way I treated people.
One month after those 3 days, and yelling at my son yet again, I phoned Mental Health and Addiction in my town.
I started to see a Phycologist in September of 2018 and was diagnosed with PTSD in January 2019 that was caused from things I had witnessed and things done to me on that tour in 1992.
I’ve been on every ride since 2018 in some fashion. 2019 I did the “Full Pull” and was asked to be a Tailgunner.
2020 I did the Western Bubble, thanks covid. Joined the Board of Directors in 2021 as well as being Lead Bike and Chief Operations Officer for 2021 and 2022.
You may ask why I continue to ride with The Rolling Barrage every year. All that really just says you haven’t spent enough time riding with us.
The Rolling Barrage is a family, a community that DOES NOT JUDGE, DOES NOT treat you as an outsider. The Rolling Barrage is a welcoming hug.
Why do I continue to come back? I come back to help people look in a mirror and say “hey you in there, it’s okay to be you, no matter what, we’ve got this.”
I come back to help maybe that one person the way The Rolling Barrage helped me.
Cyber Grump
Jim Gordon
Full Pull Alumni / Service and Support / COO – The Rolling Barrage , Director – The Rolling Barrage PTSD Foundation