Nate Self lives in Texas with his wife and four children. He is a principal with The Praevius Group, a firm dedicated to leadership advancement and development.

As an Army Ranger Captain in 2002, Nate led a group of courageous soldiers atop Takur Ghar Mountain to rescue a missing-in-action Navy SEAL. What ensued was the highest-altitude battle ever fought by U.S. troops – and seven of the first 10 men to die in the War on Terror fell in this singular episode. The effort was dubbed “Rescue on Roberts Ridge,” and had it not been for Self’s quick-thinking and leadership, many more would have been killed.

Upon returning home, Self was widely recognized as a national hero, awarded with a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. He was invited by President Bush to be a guest at the 2003 State of the Union Address. But for him, the real battle was just beginning.

“I dream every night that I’ve always got a gun in my hands,” Self told Dateline in June 2005, then in recovery from PTSD. “There’s always something that has to be done, there’s always somebody shooting at me. And, you know—I kill people every night.”

Still experiencing severe behavioral symptoms, Self told Stone Phillips in the interview: “It’s gotten to where it’s hard to really get myself to do anything. Once I start something I don’t want to finish.”

Four years later, Self has come a long way. Having survived the worst stages of PTSD, he has now committed himself to helping a new generation of war vets, both by sharing his own story, and by collecting theirs. To that end, Self is a guest speaker for Bridges to Healing, an outreach for soldiers returning home from war. In addition, he is leading a project funded by the Army Research Institute, collecting oral accounts of platoon leaders in the Iraq/Afghanistan War. Combined with the release of Two Wars, Self is using his platform as one of the most decorated war heroes to come out of the Iraq/Afghanistan War to help fellow vets get the help they need.

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