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Latest Military Life Articles
White House Gets Behind The Hiring of Veterans
May 3, 2013:
The private sector has been making commitments to hire veterans for some time now. For example, Walmart, UPS, and others have been doing this for some time. The White House has recently announced a "significant new effort to reduce unemployment and improve job prospects among veterans." They say that they are "enlisting the support" of U.S. companies to hire 435,000 veterans and military spouses over the next five years. I am pleased to see a coordinated effort by both the public and private sectors in this effort. All such efforts are to be welcomed, and might I add, encouraged. It is after all, the right thing to do.
A Helping Spouse And The Power of Love to Heal
May 2, 2013:
This is a powerful video of a wife speaking about her Vietnam veteran husband's struggles to recover from the debilitating effects of PTSD. Her love and understanding, as well as that of fellow veterans brought him to recognize his need for help.
Jamming For Vietnam Veterans
May 1, 2013:
This is a video of an outdoor concert for the Vietnam Veterans of San Diego. The musicians range in age from the Vietnam era to the present, and they know how to jam and have some fun.
Talk With Other Soldiers
Apr 25, 2013:
This Army medic veteran says it better than most. He gives as clear an insight into the difficulties of transitioning from war experiences back into civilian life as anyone I've seen in these videos before. He knows the problems, because he has not only experienced them, but he had faced them head-on, looked at them for what they are, and has found the most useful tools to be put to use in handling them in the healthiest, most effective of ways.
Eddie Agosto's Hope Restored
Apr 24, 2013:
Eddie Agosto joined the Marines at age 19 to escape the mean streets of Brooklyn. In 1980, President Carter sent a small force into Iran to try to liberate the American Embassy hostages that were being held by revolutionary Iranian element. It ended in a disastrous crash in the desert during a sandstorm. Eddie was on that mission. He was in another helicopter. He and his comrades had to rescue the injured and hastily bag the ruined bodies of the deceased and get out of there before their failed mission was discovered by Iranian revolutionary forces. What he saw and experienced, and what he had to do for his comrades, sent him on a downward spiral into the darkness of PTSD on his return home.
She Felt Out of Place In Civilian Life
Apr 17, 2013:
This young lady has a lot to say to us about separation from the military and re-entry into civilian life. But she has even more to say about recognizing PTSD and being present to those who are going through it.
He Saved Hundreds of Lives And Died In A POW Camp
Apr 16, 2013:
A few days ago, the Medal of Honor was awarded to a man who stood by his fellow troops through the toughest moments of battles in the Korean war. He was an Army Chaplain who was captured along with others of his unit and died in a Chinese POW camp.
The Reshaping of The Military
Apr 3, 2013:
In an article from USA Today, the new Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, announced his intent "...to 'reform and reshape' the military--from paying personnel to buying weapons--to deal with the deep budget cuts the Pentagon faces."
Vale, Colorado Veterans Program
Apr 2, 2013:
This program at the Vale Ski Resort has been going on for ten years now. The number of veterans who are being served in the program has grown dramatically over those years. The volunteer efforts of this program have grown in both importance and value over these past ten years. These volunteers have been helping severely wounded veterans learn that they can still enjoy such things, just differently. it also gives them a freedom that they thought they would never enjoy again. They help these wounded warriors begin to think about the future in ways they thought were gone to them forever.
Getting My Life Back Together
Mar 25, 2013:
This veteran had to fight hard to get his life back together. He had to fight through alcohol issues, substance abuse, and the very clear symptoms of PTSD. He was taught to not share his problems. He learned to keep things in and it effected his ability to work, and his relationships.
We Are Failing our Post 9/11 Veterans
Mar 25, 2013:
I happened to catch an NBC evening new report tonight and I could not help put sit down and write an article in response to it. According to the report, we currently have over 900,000 post 9/11 war veterans who have applied for disability benefits with the Veterans Administration and are having to wait for those services that they deserve and need for, on average, over 270 days, or almost a full year. In major cities, like New York City, that waiting time skyrockets to over two years.
The First African-American to Graduate from the Air Force Academy Has Died
Mar 25, 2013:
The Air force Academy held a funeral service for its first African-American graduate last Saturday. He was a man of consequence throughout his entire life, as a military man and as a civilian businessman.
Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor
Mar 25, 2013:
The video you will see here is a trailer for a new film that will be released soon. It is about a subject that I am intimately familiar with as well. The film is Called, "Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor." It centers on the experiences of the Marines of Bravo Co., 1/26 who were at Khe Sanh for the Tet Offensive of 1968.
Triggering PTSD
Mar 18, 2013:
One of the strange things about PTSD is that it can arise, or be triggered at times quite separate from the events that caused it. This is especially true when the early symptoms are not dealt with properly at the time that they first arise.
March 15th, The Ides of March: Thoughts of War and Peace
Mar 18, 2013:
The Ides of March was a Roman festival, somewhat like the celebration of the New Year. It was the beginning of spring and planting season. But it is also famous for being the day in 44 B.C. on which Julius Caesar, the great general of the Legions who had been victorious in the wars against the Gauls and in the civil war against the rebellious general, Pompey, was assassinated by his friends and Senators, Brutus and Cassius.
