Trending
Trending
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
War trauma brings in its wake a collapse of time. The present is engulfed; the past colonizes moment-to-moment experience; and the future is collapsed. Severe PTsxD and all variants of PTspD are characterized by an experience of haunting.
This Veterans Day, do something that can make a tangible difference in the lives of our veterans. Go to www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org and get training in Mental Health First Aid so that the next time you ask a veteran, "Are you okay?" you'll know what to do if they say, "No, I'm not."
It's January 2007, the first moments of our first Coming Home Project retreat, an opportunity for veterans and families from around the country to come together to share stories and support one another. We gather for our first circle, thirty-three veterans and family members from seven states, with four facilitators.
By current estimates, 22 veterans every day are choosing to end their own lives. I can't help but wonder about my own experiences and how fortunate I've been thus far hanging on to this roller coaster called post-military life.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Predatory for-profit schools have been targeting veterans' benefits through aggressive and deceptive marketing campaigns since the Post-9/11 GI Bill was passed. In the past, it's been hard to identify the good actors from the bad without some sort of system to capture complaints.
In his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama has a very straightforward opportunity to help end the mindset that got us into war, by talking about the necessity of providing the funding to care for the veterans from a decade of war.
The swift expansion of equal marriage recognition and benefits to all Americans -- especially to all who serve -- was the right thing for our country to do, and the Pentagon is now firmly out front in embracing this change.
The debate about the VA disability claims backlog has been about many things, but for us, it's first and foremost about the hundreds of thousands of veterans facing an enduring and straining wait. These people are more than just about numbers.
