S.1. Ep. 11 "And When the Sky Was Opened"

Rod Taylor plays Colonel Clegg Forbes and Jim Hutton plays Major William Gart, two men who were the first to fly into space on on the X-20 DynaSoar. During their test flight, they were lost off radar and crashed landed into a desert. Col. Forbes comes to the hospital after he was discharged earlier that morning to visit Major Gart. Nervous and shakey, Forbes asks Gart if he remembers Colonel Ed Harrington, played by Charles Aidman. Forbes shows Gart the newspaper and only the two of them on the front page.

Forbes begins to have flashbacks of the morning. Harrington and Forbes visit Gart in the hospital. Harrington picks up the newspaper and the three of them are on the cover. The two healthy men go out for a drink. Harrington drops his glass of beer and tells Forbes that he has a feeling that he doesn't belong. That none of them should have lived through the crash. Harrington goes to call his folks but they say they don't have a son. He calls Forbes over and tells him the shocking news. Harrington looks into the booth and Harrington is gone!

Forbes tries to prove and re-prove Harrington's existence but its no use. The scene returns to the hospital where Forbes tries make Gart remember Harrington. Suddenly, Forbes repeats what Harrington says at the bar. None of them should have made it through the crash. Forbes freaks out and runs from the run. Gart gets up to chase after him but there's no one there. He picks up the newspaper and on the cover is only himself!

Gart goes back into his bed and a nurse closes the door. The doctor asks the nurse if there's an available room. She replies yes and leads him to the room where Gart and the men stayed. She opens the door to reveal an empty room.

SPIN

I may not be a doctor but I am an experienced military brat. My dad served in the army for over two decades. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is serious business. For example, we can't watch firework shows because it reminds my dad of bombs exploding in Iraq. When the neighbors set them off, he hides in the basement.

PTSD can bring on flashbacks, vomiting, dizziness, hallucinations and nightmares. Soldiers sees some ridiculous and horrible things no human should ever possess the power to perform nor have to witness.

An article on MSNBC from late 2010 gave readers a look into the pain of a PTSD sufferer. Staff Sgt. Andrew Pogany was tried by the United States Army for "cowardly conduct as a result of fear" after only being in Iraq for a couple of days. He fought the case and retired with medical benefits.

Pogany saw a shredded body of an Iraqi soldier and began to vomit and hallucinate. The Army sent him back home for medical review and then tried to prosecute him for being a coward.

WARNING. GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPH LINK BELOW.

I'm assuming he saw something twice as bad as this.

Poor dude.

If you have the guts to go to Iraq even for a day, you are NOTHING of a coward.