KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Thousands of people will spend this holiday season in shelters and an East Tennessee man is sharing his story in hopes of inspiring others.
"I was in the military eight years, I've had ups and downs, battles descending to third, in and out of homelessness," Fred Herring said.
Herring said living out on the streets makes it harder to recover.
"Bad rain, snow, the drugs, it's difficult because you don't really have... you don't really have, like, a somewhere that safe to actually get better," Herring said.
In the military, Herring said he served in southern Iraq and Baghdad where he was a truck driver and said that he was considered an easy target.
"Of course, the same story means... when you get back to duty and you've seen things that you wouldn't normally see, you fall into addiction and that whole cycle just... spins out of control," he said.
This is when Herring decided to turn his life around.
"When you realize that your addiction can kill you, that's the game changer," Herring said.
Herring said he is choosing to live this holiday season by spending time at KARM.
He hopes to get housing soon and plans to continue on the road to recovery.