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Manalizing 33 Mark Bartholomew: The Hard Part is Coming Home
A former Army combat medic fights nightmares, family court, and the silence at home—and finds purpose in fatherhood and helping other vets.
Mark Bartholomew spent 13 months in Iraq’s Sadr City and the Triangle of Death as a combat medic. He came home with blood still caked on his boots—and a brain and nervous system rewired by war. In this raw conversation, Mark opens up about treating civilians and soldiers alike, the nightmare that still visits him, and the years he tried to outrun sleep with alcohol. He shares how an elderly VA counselor, a pit bull named Daisy, and a room full of Vietnam vets pulled him back from the edge. We also go straight at the civilian battles: divorce, the “silver bullet” of family court, losing daily contact with his son, and rebuilding a life as a present, purpose-driven dad. If you or someone you love has ever wondered why the mission doesn’t end on the flight home, this episode will land hard—and offer a way through.
Content WarningsPTSD, war trauma, graphic injury references, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, family-court conflict.
Highlights- Blood on the boots: triage in urban combat
- Why “coming home is the hard part”
- Daisy the service dog and the first real turn upward
- Group therapy that actually saves lives
- The civilian war: divorce, custody, identity
- Finding purpose: from medic to mentor, from pain to fatherhood
- “War was the easy part. Coming home—that was the hard part.”
- “Group therapy saved my life. Those men became my uncles.”
- “When everything felt out of control, suicide felt like the one thing I could control.”
combat medic, Sadr City, Triangle of Death, Iraq War stories, PTSD recovery, traumatic brain injury, VA counseling, Vet Center group therapy, veteran suicide prevention, service dog Daisy, father’s rights, family court “silver bullet,” men’s mental health, sobriety, purpose and fatherhood, Manalizing podcast
Resources Mentioned- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) — dial 988
- Local Vet Center (VA community counseling for combat vets & MST survivors)
- Manalizing — join a tribe; lift and be lifted
If Mark’s story hit home, share this episode with one man who needs it. Then join us at Manalizing—find a tribe, tell your story, and help another man tell his.
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/manalyzing/donations
View all episodes
By Garth Haslem and every other man on the planetA former Army combat medic fights nightmares, family court, and the silence at home—and finds purpose in fatherhood and helping other vets.
Mark Bartholomew spent 13 months in Iraq’s Sadr City and the Triangle of Death as a combat medic. He came home with blood still caked on his boots—and a brain and nervous system rewired by war. In this raw conversation, Mark opens up about treating civilians and soldiers alike, the nightmare that still visits him, and the years he tried to outrun sleep with alcohol. He shares how an elderly VA counselor, a pit bull named Daisy, and a room full of Vietnam vets pulled him back from the edge. We also go straight at the civilian battles: divorce, the “silver bullet” of family court, losing daily contact with his son, and rebuilding a life as a present, purpose-driven dad. If you or someone you love has ever wondered why the mission doesn’t end on the flight home, this episode will land hard—and offer a way through.
Content WarningsPTSD, war trauma, graphic injury references, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, family-court conflict.
Highlights- Blood on the boots: triage in urban combat
- Why “coming home is the hard part”
- Daisy the service dog and the first real turn upward
- Group therapy that actually saves lives
- The civilian war: divorce, custody, identity
- Finding purpose: from medic to mentor, from pain to fatherhood
- “War was the easy part. Coming home—that was the hard part.”
- “Group therapy saved my life. Those men became my uncles.”
- “When everything felt out of control, suicide felt like the one thing I could control.”
combat medic, Sadr City, Triangle of Death, Iraq War stories, PTSD recovery, traumatic brain injury, VA counseling, Vet Center group therapy, veteran suicide prevention, service dog Daisy, father’s rights, family court “silver bullet,” men’s mental health, sobriety, purpose and fatherhood, Manalizing podcast
Resources Mentioned- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) — dial 988
- Local Vet Center (VA community counseling for combat vets & MST survivors)
- Manalizing — join a tribe; lift and be lifted
If Mark’s story hit home, share this episode with one man who needs it. Then join us at Manalizing—find a tribe, tell your story, and help another man tell his.
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/manalyzing/donations