EL PASO, Texas -- Walls can't talk, but Curtis Butler III’s say a lot. They tell the story of a decorated soldier, who proudly served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"When you turn field rations into an eight-course cuisine, the guys, they kind of like that," said Butler.

But his days in the 4-1 Cavalry didn't come without a cost. He said he saw many things that he would rather forget.

"Bodies all over the place. When you smell a burned body, it's like, it'll never leave, the scent," Butler told KFOX.

Butler believes those experiences have caused him to get post-traumatic stress disorder, migraine headaches and sleepless nights.

He left the Army in 2007, but he said when he first went to the veterans clinic to ask for PTSD tests and other medical conditions, they were not listening.

"She was like, ‘well, since it’s not in Mr. Butler's records, you know we can't do anything,’" he said speaking of a nurse.

Even as a soldier when he was in pain on the battlefield, he said often no one is listening.

"My feet are killing me, my back is hurting. They're like ‘hey, go get some ibuprofen from the medics and drive on’," he told KFOX.

He said he understands the need to complete a mission, but soldiers are not machines.

Years later, his PTSD is getting better. He takes about eight medications a day and he said he has found a great doctor at the veterans clinic. He's enrolled at the University of Phoenix and is studying criminal justice. But after years of what he feels was no one listening he wrote an essay, called "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, My Story Please Listen."

In the story, he tells of how he wanted to kill people, including his father. He also said his PTSD contributed to him losing his ex-fiance and stepdaughter.

"You don't have to worry about these gang members, you know gang banging out there, you gotta worry about these soldiers that's trained killers, that 's been there for 15 months, that still have blood on their hands," Butler said.

And he has an idea of a better way to fight PTSD.

"Instead of these soldiers going on breaks when they come back, they need to do a 30 day or 45 day evaluation before these guys leave Fort Bliss," he said.

Butler said he is also trying to open his own snack shop. On his wall hangs a painting of his two daughters. He said his kids also help to keep him going.

KFOX contacted the El Paso VA Health Care System to ask leaders about Butler’s incident when he first went to the VA for care. In a written response, Chief of Staff Cynthia Rivera said, ”For the past several years, the VA has put into a place a screening tool to evaluate all veterans for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcoholism. Most recently, a suicide screening tool was added to the triage process.”

In the e-mail Rivera went on to say, “We are puzzled by the report of this particular veteran because his statement, 'it is not in your record so you cannot be treated for it', is not consistent with our standard of practice. “

Miri Marshall can be reached at miri.marshall@kfoxtv.com or 915.834.2158.