The Path of Resilience and Healing for one Veteran

He was second in his class when he was trained -and the first of Maori descent- to become a Navy Sea Air and Land (SEAL). He graduated High School and left to join Seal Team One out of San Diego. He loved being a SEAL and felt a strong sense of belonging with his brothers-in-arms. After almost seven years doing something that he loved, tragedy struck. 

“I was hung over, but I told my commander I was sick,” Tansley said. “They sent me to medical, and medical did a chest x-ray. I remember the doc with the grease pencil circling things on my scans, and that was when my career ended. It wasn’t when I got out. I had to get treatment and try to recover. But really, that was the beginning of the end.” 

Tansley took the medicine they gave him, but the fungal infection in his lungs wouldn’t clear up. It was Coccidioidomycosis, commonly known as “Valley Fever.” The spores are found in dust -exactly what you might inhale crawling along the ground during SEAL training- he pointed out. When the fungal spores take hold in the lungs, they can cause serious health problems. For Tansley, it was so bad that they had to resect a portion of his lung. 

After losing part of his lung, Tansley was no longer able to dive with the SEALs. He tried using a different mixture of nitrogen and oxygen in his tanks, but even with a higher oxygen level, he couldn’t do it. When he got out, the person who processed his paperwork at VA saw that he had continued to dive after his partial lung resection and decided that he should not qualify for a service connection. Since he got out before retirement and had no service-connected conditions, he couldn’t access benefits. 

“I took it really hard,” Tansley said. “I guess I felt like they just kicked me out and left me behind, and being hurt over it- I made some bad decisions. I started using methamphetamine, which ended up stealing decades of my life when I descended into addiction.” 

As it has for so many Veterans, addiction took his life a piece at a time. His wife also became addicted. His children were disappointed in him and didn’t want him in their lives. He maintained a job and never “bottomed out,” but that didn’t mean he didn’t lose all the things that mattered to him. Chasing a high -being trapped in a cycle of addiction- ate away at his life until nothing but methamphetamine was left. 

When an old classmate who also used methamphetamine died, Tansley felt a sense of impending doom. He was sure he would be next, and so he went to VA and asked for help. This time, VA did help him. He was sent away from Hawaii to a rehab program in the mainland. It worked for him, and he got sober. 

“I got into surfing and I’m in the Hui o He’e Nalu club,” Tansley said. “Surfing helped me stay sober and I still love to surf. It’s the same kind of rush I felt when I was with the SEALs; that excitement you get.” 

However, surfing wasn’t enough. Tansley reached out to those who served in SEAL Team One with him and asked for support. Commander Steve Elias answered the call and agreed to help; no questions asked. Between Elias, joining Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and accepting God into his life, Tansley found reasons to stay sober. 

“Commander Elias -they call him “Bullfrog”- he’s a great man,” Tansley said. “He served for 42 years. The fact that someone like him could believe in me is such an inspiration to me. He says I inspire him, too. That has really helped me.” 

Tansley is now a business owner. He has a landscaping business that he manages, and his sons came to work alongside him after he mended fences with them, so it is a family business. He feels privileged to work with his sons every day, and grateful for his life being seven years sober and counting. He says that sobriety is a gift that he hopes to share with others through Alcoholics Anonymous. When asked if he had advice for his fellow Veterans, he said they should remember that no one has a perfect life. 

“Say to yourself: ‘I am bigger than my problems,’ and repeat it three times,” said Tansley. “You have to feel it. You have to believe it. Your problems aren’t that big. You’ll always have problems; everyone does. You just have to learn to put them in perspective. And, you have to learn to laugh. You have to laugh at your life and see the humor in it.” 

Tansley lost his sense of community and brotherhood when he was separated from the Navy. Part Māori, his family moved to Hawaii when he was only a child, and his separation from his brothers-in-arms echoed that separation from his original home and culture. He loves the United States and is very patriotic, but he is studying the Māori language now in hopes of reclaiming some of what he lost. He is also studying Hawaiian because he grew up in Hawaii, and it is the place that feels most like home. 

“I’m still not service connected with the VA and that is too bad,” said Tansley. “However, I’m finding community and building a life, and I’m not letting my problems get me down.”

Re-connecting with the sailors he served with and with his culture has helped him in his healing. He says he still has ground to cover, but he is committed, so he will just keep riding the waves and trying to keep things in perspective. If you would like to enroll in VA health care, call 1-800-214-1306.