The traumatic effects of surviving a roadside bomb in Iraq linger in Jared Myers’ mind.

Myers, a former Army reservist, has been battling post-traumatic stress disorder since a bomb heavily damaged the Humvee he was driving nearly four years ago.

Now, the 27-year-old Lawrence man thinks he is slowly winning that battle.

“It’s just been tough, but I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel where there was no light before,” Myers said.

In the October 2003 explosion, Myers suffered a severe arm injury that required the insertion of four pins to hold it together. The blast killed a captain and wounded another soldier who were in the Humvee with him. Myers managed to drive the Humvee several miles back to his base in Baqouba. A year later he was given the Bronze Star for his actions that day.

In November 2003 Myers suffered an emotional breakdown and was admitted to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leavenworth. He was diagnosed with PTSD and went through three weeks of treatment.

Myers’ nightmares and bouts with depression diminished but didn’t go away. Earlier this year he went through a seven-week PTSD program at Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center in Topeka.

“That seemed to do wonders as to how I was dealing with PTSD,” Myers said. “I’m a lot better off now than I was before.”

Up to 20 percent of veterans returning from the Iraq war suffer from PTSD, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. PTSD is evident in up to 11 percent of the veterans who served in Afghanistan. Many other war veterans suffer from other psychological problems but have not been diagnosed with PTSD.

Myers plans to attend Johnson County Community College later this year. He wants to become a firefighter and paramedic. He expects to find out early whether they are jobs he can handle emotionally.

“Hopefully I can get in this fall and do the training, and hopefully I won’t have any problems doing the job,” he said.