"Since I'm a cook, you know everybody comes to say hi to the cook,” said Curtis Butler III, who served in the 4-1 Calvary before leaving the army in 2007.

He said those are some of the good memories. But there are some that Bulter would rather forget, but he says he can't.

"I had an IED blow up probably about 50 feet from me and that's the worst sound when you hear something like that it's like wow, it's deafening," said Butler.

He said memories like those have contributed to him having PTSD and headaches. He's now taking about eight medications a day.

“When you smell a burned body, it'll never leave,” said Butler.

With treatment he's now doing better. He’s attending the University of Phoenix and he even has plans to open his own business. He even wrote a paper for school entitled “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: My Story Please Listen."

In it, he tells how he wanted to kill people, including his own father.

The problems facing soldiers with PTSD has drawn the attention of local judges, such as the case of Fort Bliss soldier Edison Bayas who was convicted of intoxicated manslaughter.

That's why Butler said he wants to be known as a voice for veterans and he hopes his story will make a difference.