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Tom F.
![The first cat I got it was Houdini. I was walking from my apartment out to my car and this little kitten came up around my leg and started meowing. [I thought], I can't just leave this thing here. It was a mess. The flea thing got me. When we were in Iraq, we were in a building that was filled with sand fleas. So all night long, you couldn't sleep. You were just getting chewed up by sand fleas. It was horrible.](img/vets/vet_tomf_cat.jpg)
![That was on Chestnut and 30th. It was right near the [Post Office]. That little text on there [says] ”the dream is over.” There is a lot pessimism and rightfully so. I think my generation is the first generation in the U.S. where things aren't going to get better. Things are only going to get worse, and a lot of people are really questioning the future. I know people that are getting crushed right now in this economy. And it is kind of hard to keep your head up when you know everything is falling apart on you.](img/vets/vet_tomf_grafitti.jpg)
![I saw [the Philadelphia skyline] and thought that was a good picture of Philadelphia. It was just recently, after getting out of the Army, and I haven't been doing very much physical activity. So I've been trying to walk home [from school] every once in a while. It’s my little leisurely way of trying to get some exercise and unwind after sitting through classes.](img/vets/vet_tomf_skyline.jpg)
![My good buddy in the Army had been depressed and taking anti-depressants. They [Army doctors] just kept prescribing him new and different ones. So they threw him out of the Army with a General Discharge. It's a mess, because he was depressed so he went to mental health and they screwed him up on psych meds. When I saw him afterwards and he wasn't on them and he was back to his normal self. (continued)](img/vets/vet_tomf_freequote3_1.jpg)
Tom comes from a family of veterans; his father and grandfather both served in the Army and that fueled his desire to enlist. Tom was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and 2009. Upon returning home, he decided to fulfill another aspiration of his and went to Law School. There, he started a group for veterans also studying law as a means to support each other and to commit to volunteer work in the community. In addition to studying hard, Tom is an artist- he enjoys pewter casting and has worked with the organization Warrior Writers.
