The men and women who have served in the U.S. military are people who have made a major sacrifice for our country. Unfortunately, many of them come back from serving overseas suffering from serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

One of the veterans suffering from this disorder was William Jazwinski, a former Heavy Wheeled Vehicle Operator for the United States Army who recently returned from a 15 month tour in Iraq. During this tour of duty, William saw unspeakable things and was having trouble dealing with them upon his return home.

Though William was traumatized by his time in the service, he never once considered removing the American flag from the dashboard of his truck. He had no idea that it would be this flag that would make him “targeted” by law enforcement…

William was out driving one day when he noticed a police officer was trying to pull him over. This left William stunned, as he was not speeding at the time. The veteran later took to Facebook to recount what happened when the officer approached his vehicle:

“Me: Good morning, Officer. Was I speeding?

Officer: Good morning, no not speeding. Just wanted to stop ya and say thank you for your service.

Me: Oooh the bumper sticker, nice. Your welcome, Sir. My pleasure.

Officer: Where did you serve?

Me: I went to Iraq. Did a 15 month [stint]. Out of Fort Benning.

Officer: Well, alright. My son went to Iraq. He didn’t make it home.”

“Me: Man, I’m so sorry to hear that. I just finished a PTSD program.

Officer: I see you have a flag in the truck. The one we got for him? Well it’s at the house. Can I ask a question?

Me: Sure.

Officer: Do you mind stepping out and receiving a hug? You remind me of my son. I pulled you over. I thought you were him. I still don’t believe it most days he’s gone.

With tears in both our eyes, I got out and hugged that man. I’m talking about for a minute or two crying. Down to our knees crying. I needed that.

To all the family and friends of soldiers, fighting or done fighting, God bless you. Your peace and your hearts. It’s so hard without them, I know. This road is a tremendous one. Love to all.”

How beautiful is that?!

All the officer wanted to do was thank William for the sacrifice he made for his country. There is nothing more difficult in life than losing a child, and we cannot imagine what this officer was going through, yet he still took the time to make sure that this veteran was doing alright.

Touched by the experience, William took a photo of himself with his American flag as soon as he got home.

The image and the accompanying story have since gone viral, being shared 179,000 times and liked by more than 210,000 social media users.

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