Trailing behind his group of friends, feelings of anxiety and fear crowded his adolescent mind with the question of what version of his father awaited him at home. It hadn’t always been unsafe or tense, but his father’s behavior had become a constant uncertainty. The loving provider who had sat at the head of the table was now condemning and destructive.
This is one of the many strong memories Staff Sgt. Taylor Swartz, 22nd Training Squadron Survival Escape Resistance Evasion specialist, recalls from his domestic-violence filled family life in adolescence.