Helping Veterans (a day late)

Yesterday was a full day, with maintenance chemo, sleeping off the effects of the Benadryl I have to take because I’m allergic to the chemo, Herceptin, that they give me, then my cancer support group, and then shopping for birthday party invitations and filling out birthday party invitations for Energy Boy’s kids’ birthday party (which is on November 23, due to scheduling conflicts). *phew*

All of that is to say, besides a brief mention in my brief post yesterday, I neglected to give a shout-out to veterans, past and present, on Veteran’s Day yesterday. I thank them for serving our country well.

I also wanted to mention the soldiers who come home and are hurt, either physically or psychologically . . . or both. There are men and women who give their lives for this country every day. The notion of that just overwhelms me.

I’m sure that serving in a war changes people. How could it not? I’ve never done it myself. My father served in World War II and rarely talked about it . . . until he was dying of secondary liver cancer. Maybe when he was once again faced with death, he was finally comfortable talking about the other time in his life when he was also faced with death. I honestly don’t know what his motivation was. All I know is that what he did and saw must have affected him a great deal for him to remain so silent about it — for the most part — for so long.

There is an organization today that helps returning soldiers who are struggling to overcome the effects of their traumatic experiences in combat. Operation Survivor is a part of Survivor Corps, and it was founded to help out returning soldiers:

Within the United States there are over one and a half million service members that have served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over thirty thousand have been physically wounded, but many more have experienced less visible, psychological wounds. Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have emerged as signature injuries of these conflicts, with recent reports suggesting an increase in rates of suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness, and domestic violence among returning service members and veterans.

These traumatic affects of conflict, left unaddressed, could have far-reaching negative consequences for the individuals affected, their families, and our country. Survivor Corps’ work in some of the most conflict affected countries in the world has shown community reintegration to be the key factor in those that overcome their traumatic experiences, and those that are consumed by them.

YOU CAN HELP!

It’s important. I’m off to donate something now too.