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NARRATOR: Lieutenant Colonel Damon Friedman

is a former Marine and a decorated combat veteran

in the United States Air Force.

Damon understands firsthand the brutal effects

of war and post-traumatic stress.

He's served four combat deployments

to Iraq and Afghanistan in support

of the global War on Terror.

Earning three bronze stars, one with valor,

as well as the Combat Action Medal.

And all of our guys and gals who've seen combat,

they're looking for a solution.

And they're looking for hope.

And they're looking for purpose.

NARRATOR: Now, he's the executive producer

for the film, "Surrender," which follows the lives of combat

warriors, their silent struggles, and the answers they

found on the way to personal healing.

Well David is here with us.

And thank you for being with us and thanks for your service.

Well, thank you very much.

Honored to be here.

Let's talk about your story first.

You were in combat and you made a deal with God.

Tell us about that.

Just going in, it was back in 2010,

going into the Korengal Valley with General McChrystal.

Big mission.

Into a place called the Valley of Death.

And it was just a huge firefight.

It was one of the places where a lot of Americans

had been killed.

And it was a big mission to make sure that we conducted

the nation's bidding and able to kind of bring back

our guys from that place.

And it was just an overwhelming enemy.

Lots of Taliban fighters out there.

Is that why it was named the Valley of Death?

Yes.

Because it's actually, it's taken

lot of great American lives.

Yep.

What happened?

What was your bargain?

My bargain was, basically, knowing that just the dire

situation that I was in and understanding that there were

not enough bullets and bombs to take out all the bad guys,

I got to a position where I knew that there's no way that we

could get out there-- all of my guys to come out all in one

piece.

And it was just to this point where

I felt really overwhelmed.

And knew that the only way to get out of there

was through some type of divine providence.

And it was a time that I had a conversation with God.

He captured my attention.

And he just said, listen, Damon.

I made you for a purpose.

All the things that you've ever dealt with,

all the experience, the skills that you have,

the training, the deployment, I made you for a purpose.

It's not just to be a special ops war fighter for the nation.

But to be a kingdom warrior for me.

And that was a time when I said, Lord,

if you get me and all my men out of here alive,

I will know it'll be by your hand and your hand alone.

And I will worship you the rest of my days.

And that was the beginning of an incredible journey.

What happened?

Did you get out?

No, I stayed in.

But I had to-- there was a lot of issues

that I had to deal with.

The Lord really revealed a lot of the things that-- a lot

of sin that was in my life.

And what he started doing was piecing me back together.

And I had this big issue.

I said, God, I got this black heart.

I've got this tainted mind.

I've got a failed marriage.

I made a lot of really bad decisions.

And I don't know how to get out of this.

And he said this to me, he said, if you will just

give me all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul,

and do it with all your strength, I will renew you.

So he didn't just give me, he just fix up my heart,

or fix up my mind.

He gave me a new heart.

He gave me a new mind.

And there was a radical transformation in my life.

And from that point, that was the very beginning of maybe

I'm called to bring the message of hope and purpose

to my own people.

Well, let's talk about that.

Let's talk about that message of hope.

Because I think a lot of Americans

aren't aware of what happens to somebody when they're

subject to prolonged combat that you will automatically suffer.

It will have an impact on you.

We've got names for it, post-traumatic stress disorder.

And I actually don't like that name because it's not really

a disorder, it's an injury that's

happened because somebody has been

exposed to prolonged violence.

What happened with you on this?

Well, I will tell you that every warrior that

goes to combat, processes combat differently.

They process the war differently.

It effects people differently.

And I will tell you that, a lot of people don't know this,

but since 2001, over two and a half million men and women

have deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq.

And that's more than the entire Vietnam War.

And we've been at war for 15 years.

So now, we're just starting to see the implications to combat.

The scars of war that our men and women

are bringing back home.

And at the end of the day, this post-traumatic stress,

we experienced this traumatic experience,

catastrophic experience, and then we come back

and we're just different people.

People go, what's wrong with me?

Let me tell you what's wrong.

You just saw some really bad stuff.

You saw dead people.

You did the nation's bidding and it comes at a cost.

But at the end of the day, the question becomes this,

and like what you said about you don't like the PTSD,

a lot of us have post-traumatic stress.

And the normal stresses of everyday life

become exacerbated because of this condition.

But a lot of times, what our warriors don't realize,

it's not the fact that you have it,

it's the fact on how you respond.

You know what I mean?

Is that why we're seeing such high suicide rates?

To hear it's every 65 minutes, one of our veterans

is taking their life.

People are-- these veterans are taking their lives

because they come to a point where they have absolutely no

hope.

No hope at all.

And so that's my mission.

My mission is to say, let me tell you something.

If you're out there and you're struggling

with post-traumatic stress, if you've

come to this point where hey, I don't have a reason to live

or there's nothing good in life to live for,

I'm here to tell you this.

That there is hope.

A lot of people don't know who Jesus is.

Who's the commander of the universe.

Who's the greatest warrior that ever lived.

And when they have an encounter with Jesus,

it's completely different than they could possibly imagine.

You see, the Jesus that a lot of people that don't really

know who he is, don't really understand the power, just

the power to change and transform them that God has.

But when you introduce him to who Jesus really is,

it's a game changer.

And that's really what I'm in the business of doing.

Is at the core behind your program now?

Yes, absolutely.

So that's why we did this film.

We wanted to be able to be shared all across the nation.

To get in the hands of all the chaplains, all the veterans.

All of these-- if you know somebody

who is a veteran, basically, to have the opportunity

to watch it.

Because these are six operators of the most elite

warriors that this nation has, and they're

sharing their experience of signing on the bottom line.

Going, conducting combat.

Coming back, dealing with the scars of war,

and then how Jesus, the commander of the universe,

changes each person's life radically.

And so this is a message of hope.

When people watch this, it is made Hollywood quality.

It is very dynamic.

And it's extremely explosive.

What can a veteran do who's going through it?

And I'm hearing a lot of stories--

this is a military area-- and I'm hearing a lot of,

I just got back in from combat.

And now I'm supposed to play with my daughters

in the living room.

And there's just this disconnect where I

can't leave the tension of it.

It's invading my dreams.

It's invading my thoughts.

And I just can't get back to life as normal.

What would you tell them?

I would say that, that's natural.

It's absolutely natural.

And a lot of guys get discouraged over it.

It's like, I don't know what's wrong with me.

There's nothing wrong with you, man.

Fact is, again, you saw some really ugly stuff.

And depending on how close you are to the fight,

you might see even more ugly stuff.

But you need to find some time to rest and recover.

You need some time to reconcile some of the things

that you're struggling with.

Because every one of us is called

to do something great in this world for the kingdom.

It's a matter of whether or not we answer that call.

And so I would tell that person is this,

is let me tell you something.

That God didn't just allow these things to happen by accident.

He called you for a purpose.

And what you're really looking for--

and this is the majority of America--

they're looking for hope.

They're looking for peace.

And that individual is struggling when

he's playing with his daughter.

Trust me.

I've got a son and I've got a daughter.

And I know exactly what it's like to try

to play with my son, but knowing I've got problems.

Well my biggest problem is that I don't have

somebody taking care of me.

Fixing me up.

Strengthening me.

Encouraging me.

Jesus, the commander of the universe.

And it would be the very beginning

of let's start a journey and let me introduce you

to the greatest warrior that ever lived.

How important it is just to have

that conversation with somebody that knows what it's like?

I think it's extremely important.

Absolutely.

And let's just also consider something,

man is made of mind, body, and soul.

We're all about trying to address

the psychological issues.

We're all here trying to address the physical issues.

But what about the spiritual component?

And that is the missing entity.

That's why we developed this surrender project that

helps out our warriors and put them on a path of wellness.

We address it holistically, psychologically, physically,

and spiritually.

The fact is, no one, and I don't care who you are

or what genetic makeup you're made of,

if you don't have God in your life,

you're missing a critical component in finding peace.

Amen.

Well, thanks for being here.

And if you know somebody who is struggling

with post-traumatic stress, please

don't call it a disorder.

It's a normal human response to what they've been through.

And let's just leave it at post-traumatic stress.

If you know somebody that's got that, here's a DVD for you.

It's called "Surrender."

If you like to find out how to get a copy, all you have to do

is visit our website, cbn.com.