Like most veterans, Patrick Nelson found the transition to civilian life tough.

"I couldn't find a job to save my life," said Nelson, a wounded Army veteran who spent nearly seven years on active duty, including tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

More troubling were questions from well-meaning family and friends: What was it like? What did you do? How many people did you kill?

"Sometimes you don't want to answer," said Nelson, 27, now a full-time student at Minnesota State University, Mankato. At least not answer face-to-face. In March, Nelson won a national $25,000 Pepsi Refresh grant to create and run the website www.realcombatlife.com. The nonprofit site offers troops a therapeutic outlet on which to share their stories and, in the process, gives insight to those who want to understand.

Not all entries are "battle stories," Nelson said. Some are musings about what troops do to "pass the time," or tales of humanitarian missions "too often neglected by the major media outlets." The site carries news items, too, about asbestos and traumatic brain injury.

Nelson understands that many veterans prefer to leave their darkest days untouched by documentation. Others, though, are finding their way to his site with emotional punch. One blogged about a "fresh-faced 18-year-old medic" ripped apart by an explosion. Mike McElmeel, a Special Forces free-fall parachutist, is a regular on the site with the makings of a novelist.

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Patrick Nelson

"The road to Klaw Kut," he wrote, "was rutted, narrow and peppered with the occasional land mine."

McElmeel, 46, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, served in the Army from 1982 to 2004. The father of four already has posted nearly a dozen times on Nelson's website. Many of his posts began as letters to his oldest son, Mick, 26, who served in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. "It's a great thing," McElmeel said of the site. "For a kid Patrick's age, it's pretty cool."

Nelson, of Dawson, Minn., joined the National Guard in high school because it was "the fastest way to put on a uniform." He joined the Army after Sept. 11, 2001, doing three combat tours; 12 months in Iraq and 27 months total in Afghanistan. He was wounded in Afghanistan in 2005. Shortly after, he began taking online college classes and completed his associate's degree with honors. He still receives physical therapy for shrapnel in his back. His last tour ended in 2008.

"My body really couldn't handle any more," he said. At MSU, he's a history and sports management double major, with a minor in coaching, pulling a 4.0 grade-point average and hoping to graduate in December. He also is a Big Brother at the Mankato YMCA and a weekly volunteer mentor.

About a year ago, Nelson started toying with the idea of a combat-related website. At a Minnesota Timberwolves dinner to honor veterans, he met former Timberwolves player Mark Madsen, now coaching in the NBA developmental league, who has become a friend and supporter. Madsen, 34, offered money, registered the domain name and offered Nelson technological expertise to get the site up and running. When Nelson threw his hat into the Pepsi Challenge ring, Madsen made sure everybody he knew voted for the idea.

"Patrick's contribution is huge and hard to measure," Madsen said. "He has so much to share with the rest of us who will never go to the places he and other veterans have been."

Most of the $25,000 for the site will be used for marketing, T-shirts and other gifts for veteran contributors. "I'm trying to entice them to share a story," Nelson said. "I just don't know how many guys are going to open up."

Nelson, who still deals with post-traumatic stress disorder, hopes many veterans will take the time.

"There are a lot of blogs out there, but what makes realcombatlife.com different is that with those sites, you need to create a user name and password. With mine, just send me your story in an e-mail (patrick @realcombatlife.com) and I'll post it. 'We' is just me running this thing."

Gail Rosenblum • 612-673-7350 • gail.rosenblum@startribune.com