I'm spending the day today preparing for my facilitator duties at tomorrow's NIU Veterans Club Community Roundtable.
It's always a great honor to listen to the stories and thoughts of our local vets. And there are many, many such initiatives, big and small, gaining ground across the country.
Community members -- professionals and lay men and women of every skill set and sort -- are finding ways to help veterans process their experiences of combat while supporting their move from military life back into the civilian stream.
Educational institutions, in particular, are finding interesting ways of engaging on the issue and creating spaces for these necessary reflections. For instance, at NIU, Dr. Jeffrey Chown -- The Communication Department's Presidential Teaching Professor in Media Studies -- has been leading the charge.
Be careful with the crumbs; the little chances to love,
the tiny gestures, the morsels that feed, the minims.
Take care of the crumbs; a look, a laugh, a smile,
a teardrop, an open hand. Take care of the crumbs. They are food also.
Do not let them fall. Gather them. Cherish them.
-- Gunilla Norris, in Becoming Bread
2008's string of holidays stretches out before us.
Bittersweet, yet again, for so many. Another season of reflection and light finds many military family members once more a long ways away from loved ones serving overseas.
I can't help but think about them, how having that empty spot at the Thanksgiving table must dampen the intent of the holiday somewhat. While many of us at home are understandably worried these days about personal financial issues or greatly unnerved about the larger national economic crisis and all of the looming political change on the horizon, those in uniform continue their work. They also have their own worries. And for many deployed troops, the greatest source of anxiety is concern for those they leave behind while they're called away to serve.
Let's send them our good will and kind thoughts, and perhaps direct the same towards their loved ones right here at home with us, too. Even more, be grateful for each moment we have here in this world together...even the ones we may consider "the crumbs."
Even in the face of difficulty, or amidst the trials of day-to-day life. Even if we're momentarily separated -- especially if we're momentarily separated -- let's be thankful for what we have. Even in light of so many with so little, there is bounty to be found in the moments we persevere and extend ourselves to each other.
Though bowed, You are not broken. Though stretched, You're strong, my friend. You are resilient like a willow -- You'll find your spring again. Though your branches Now weigh heavy, Your roots go deep and true. This is just a change of season -- God has better plans for you.
-- Sharon Hudnell
Back in May, as has been the case since 1984 on each Friday before Mother's Day, we celebrated what's known as Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Spouse Buzz, a place where military spouses can connect with one another, hosted guest blogger Lieutenant General William Caldwell, Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Ft. Leavenworth.
This is what he wrote at the time:
We’ve watched you nurse your wounded warriors back to health in military hospitals. You’re there, still full of hope, when Troopers with head injuries don’t recognize their family. You encourage them. You decorate their rooms. You read their favorite books to them. You are the first to notice when they can squeeze your hand again for the first time.
The spouse on the home front pays the bills, fixes the car, gets the kids to soccer practice, helps with the homework and building the kids pinewood derby car... you are our true heroes. You have unique experiences that only other military spouses can comprehend. ...
All military spouses know why their loved ones serve, and they share in their hardship and sacrifice and ask for little in return. It is humbling to those of us who wear the uniform to know that our best friends, our spouses, are serving along side us. Those of us in uniform serve because we love our Nation; our spouses do it for love of us. Our service men and women could not continue in this profession without your help, and for that we are eternally grateful…and so is our Nation.
Recently, I came across the following poem by a blogger who goes by the name of Universal. The lines were written after talking with a friend coping with combat PTSD, and the links are the original ones created by the author. Thank you for letting me reprint and share it here with others, Universal.
I can't sleep, can't feel Anything. Time passes in chunks now -- A month passes for me Like someone else's day.
Zombies don't have rhythms; I go wherever my trance Takes me. Today I panic in a store, Where danger doesn't lurk.
This morning, I attended a very moving early Veterans Day ceremony held at Northern Illinois University. Usually, the yearly remembrance is slated for the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month; but, due to the national holiday falling on a weekend, NIU held its ceremony today.
September and October's long Indian Summer has delayed the dropping of our leaves, many of which are brilliantly peaking at the moment. The sun shone, the weather was crisp but clear, and the fall colors combined to create a photographer's dream canvas.
Photos and transcript of the morning's reflections by NIU Veterans Club President and Iraq War veteran SSG John Galan, Naval veteran and Club Advisor Jon Lehuta, and NIU ROTC Department of Military Sciences Chairman LTC Craig Engel below the fold.
Received this invite from a member of Soldier's Heart-Seattle:
On May 5, 2007, the Voices in Wartime education project is sponsoring a poetry reading by Iraq veteran Brian Turner, author of the collection “Here, Bullet”, some very powerful poems! [Read more on Turner and other OEF/OIF vet artists.]
When: Saturday, May 05, 2007, 7 p.m. Where: Seattle Town Hall, 119 Eighth Ave., Seattle, WA 98101 Tickets: $15.00 at Brown Paper Tickets Information: 206-632-7587
As part of the event we’ll have a “fishbowl” on stage with:
• Brian Turner • Voices in Wartime leader Andy Himes • Poet Emily Warn • John Roth, a young Iraq war veteran and writer • A Seattle city council member • Local community college students • A young Laotian refugee
The idea is that these folks will have an open discussion of how war has affected them, and the audience can question them freely in a give-and-take atmosphere. Our hope is that this kind of sharing of powerful emotions around war will spark more community involvement.
Five words: Wish I could be there. For more information download a flyer, or visit the event page. A big ^5 to the event organizers!
Creative expressions of war by its warriors is nothing new. That's because one of the most powerful ways to communicate and process an intense experience like combat is through art. Returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan are no different than past veterans, and they've begun sharing their poetry, paintings, and musings with us. Here's a brief look at a few of them...
Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...
The Poet PBS' NewsHour w/Jim Lehrer recently introduced us to Brian Turner, a 39-year old poet and teacher who served in Bosnia in the late 90's before serving in Iraq. He described life as a combat zone poet:
When I was in Iraq, it was mostly when I would come back from the mission, we'd get a little down time and I'd pull out a notebook and sketch out a few lines or write a journal entry or maybe a full poem. And at the time I felt I just wanted to capture events that were happening around me and to let people, once they came back home, to let people make of that what they would.
Here is the adrenaline rush you crave, that inexorable flight, that insane puncture into heat and blood. And I dare you to finish what you've started. Because here, Bullet, here is where I complete the word you bring hissing through the air, here is where I moan the barrel’s cold esophagus, triggering my tongue’s explosives for the rifling I have inside of me, each twist of the round spun deeper, because here, Bullet, here is where the world ends, every time.
View the Newshour program or listen to audio for an excerpt from his book of poetry.
The Rapper Jeff Barillaro, aka 'Soldier Hard' enlisted in the Army a year after high school and went on to serve 14 months in Iraq as a convoy truck commander.
One of the artists featured on the OEF/OIF veteran compilation To the Fallen -- Vol. 1 (Soldier Hard contributed the song Walk With Me, an invitation into the world of a combat veteran [clip]) he also recorded the full-length album The Deployment-Vol 1 while, well, deployed. Give a listen to Real Soldier, Mission Complete, and a few more selections (and ringtones, too).
One of the really impressive things about Soldier Hard is that his voice is equally powerful when he's not rapping. A very eloquent interview subject, he sat down with Robert Mills of American Microphone to talk about being a career soldier, recording his album in Iraq, and the challenges of adjusting to life upon return:
The Multidisciplinarian While some veterans aim for their art to be apolitical, some have a decidedly strong and pointed statement to make. Aaron Hughes is one of those veterans.
From Chicago's National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, which is presenting Hughes' work -- the first Iraq War veteran art exhibit featured at the museum -- through May 2007:
Aaron Hughes shares a series of projects that bring to the forefront the over-complex personal realities of the War in Iraq. The projects convey a series of metaphors, critiques, and ambiguous narratives in order to deconstruct the nostalgic war epic that informs much of how mass media interprets war. Veering away from ideologies, these projects point instead to the complexity of daily experiences, practices, and tactics. This shift suggests that personal expressions and independent alternative communications can deconstruct the social, cultural, and political walls that foster dehumanization.
But Hughes' canvas flows out into the world, as evidenced by this fascinating clip of performance art called 'Drawing for Peace':
This was performed at the intersection of Wright and Green Streets in Champaign, Illinois against the war in Iraq and for Peace. It is an attempt to claim a strategic space in order to challenge the everyday and its constant motion for a moment of thought, meditation, and PEACE.
As Hughes methodically works with his bit of chalk, these words surround him:
I am an Iraq War Veteran. I am guilty. I am alone. I am drawing for peace.
The more I explored Hughes' work, the more I was drawn into the world he has created. His work is haunting, charitable, and sublime. Don't take my word for it -- follow those links.
Other vets are also picking up instruments to help them convey their message via pen and pencil, revealing what they've seen and done in order to come to terms with their time in a combat zone. Still others, non-servicemembers attached to deployed units, sought out the combat zone to document it with paints and brush...
The Painter New York artist Steve Mumford went to Iraq numerous times in the first year and a half of the war. He not only painted of his experiences, he wrote eloquently about them as well.
I arrived a week ago at the base of the National Guard's 3rd Battalion, 124th Infantry, now patrolling the Baghdad neighborhoods of Al Wasiria and Maghreb, or, in military parlance, sector 17. The guard took over this sector from the army a couple of months ago, and has been working hard to win over the hearts and minds of its citizens ever since. The base is a former Iraqi officers' club, and like everything directed at Saddam's military elite, it's styled along the lines of a Donald Trump production: huge, spacious and plenty of mirrored glass. ...
The battalion, based in northern Florida, is the first combat arms unit from the National Guard to serve in a war since Korea, a fact that rankles some of the enlisted men I've spoken to, who joined the guard expecting that they would stay close to home. Some say that the army gets better treatment, even though they're doing the same job. Since guard units are funded and equipped by their states, their equipment tends to be different and older than the regular army's.
Morale tends to be higher in the rifle companies, which leave the base continuously on patrolling missions as well as occasional sweeps and raids. Although things have been relatively quiet in the last few weeks, the soldiers are all aware of the dangers -- snipers and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) placed along the roadside.
The most difficulty they've had recently took place when the killing of Saddam's two sons was announced; the neighborhood erupted in celebratory gunfire. What goes up must come down, and some 40 Iraqis had to be hospitalized with wounds from these "God bullets," with two later dying. The base's roof guards took cover inside from the falling rounds and one patrol from Bravo Company found itself in a firefight which the Iraqis initiated under cover of the celebration; a little girl was killed in the crossfire.
Arriving in April 2003 on his first trip, and leaving in October 2004 on his last, Mumford only glimpsed the coming increase in violence as the insurgency and civil war were yet to take hold. His experience in Iraq seems much more mild and romantic than those that might be available to a combat artist deployed today:
In a village or cafe, the sight of Mumford with a sketch pad attracted attention. Iraqis would crowd around him as he drew, pointing and making comments in a friendly way. "Iraqi men are just crazy to have their pictures taken or painted," Mumford says. The women, in line with Muslim customs, did not approach him. Rarely did anyone object to being drawn - except a suspected insurgent who strongly protested, the artist says.
Mumford would ask before sketching a soldier if he felt he might be intruding on a private moment. Nonetheless, the watercolors and drawings in the book reflect what seem to be dozens of private moments - soldiers on guard duty in a state of suspended watchfulness, an Iraqi shopkeeper's son sitting patiently in the street, an Iraqi man staring pensively at the ground in a tumbledown neighborhood. These are moments that make up the human drama that Mumford experienced in Iraq, in all its tedium, fear, anger, patience, pride, and hope.
Today, PTSD Combat is 'pinning a poppy on' in order to pay tribute to our veterans. The Concord Monitor:
The distribution of the bright red memorial flower is one of the oldest and most widely recognized programs of the [American Legion and] Auxiliary. From the battlefields of World War I, weary soldiers brought home the memory of a barren landscape transformed by wild poppies.
To honor their sacrifice, communities and veterans organizations across the nation (and world) kick up programs and events geared towards helping our current crop of veterans throughout May's Poppy Days. I'll share more history, a short listing of local dates (drives vary throughout the month of May), and poetry to pay tribute to those who served in The Great War -- and beyond.
Also see the companion piece, Poppy Days: Dates, Drives, and Donations, at ePluribus Media for creative ways to help our veterans and their dependents this month of remembrance.
May, more than any other month, is a time to set aside our petty neighborhood squabbles and reflect on the sacrifices so many men and women of this country have made to keep us free.
Included among the notable days of reflection are Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day, not to mention Mother's Day. Symbolic of these somber times is the poppy flower, which the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars have for many years adopted as their fundraising figure.
The red poppy became associated with war after the publication of a poem written by Col. John McCrae of Canada during World War I, says the Web site of the VFW. The poem, "In Flanders Fields," describes blowing red fields among the battleground of the fallen.
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky, The larks, still bravely singing, fly, Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago, We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved and now we lie, In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe To you, from failing hands, we throw, The torch, be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us, who die, We shall not sleep, though poppies grow, In Flanders Fields.
For more than 80 years, both the American Legion and the VFW's Poppy and Buddy Poppy programs, respectively, have raised millions of dollars in support of veterans' welfare and the well being of their dependents. Those red poppies are still assembled by disabled and needy veterans in VA Hospitals.
The poppy was not chosen at random; its symbolism is both powerful and compelling. The petals of red stand for the vast outpouring of blood; The yellow and black center, the mud and desolation of all battlefields; the green of the stem is symbolic of the forests, meadows and fields where generations of Americans have perished to make generations free.
The stem represents the courage and determination of our fallen warriors. The assembled product, a flower, is a symbol of Resurrection, which is sure to follow.
CAPT. JOHN MILLS HANSON, F.A. IN The Stars And Stripes, A.E.F., France
POPPIES in the wheat fields on the pleasant hills of France, Reddening in the summer breeze that bids them nod and dance; Over them the skylark sings his lilting, liquid tune-- Poppies in the wheat fields, and all the world in June.
Poppies in the wheat fields on the road to Monthiers-- Hark, the spiteful rattle where the masked machine guns play! Over them the shrapnel's song greets the summer morn-- Poppies in the wheat fields--but, ah, the fields are torn.
See the stalwart Yankee lads, never ones to blench, Poppies in their helmets as they clear the shallow trench, Leaping down the furrows with eager, boyish tread Through the poppied wheat field to the flaming woods ahead.
Poppies in the wheat fields as sinks the summer sun, Broken, bruised and trampled--but the bitter day is won; Yonder in the woodland where the flashing rifles shine, With their poppies in their helmets, the front files hold the line,
Poppies in the wheat fields; how' still beside them lie Scattered forms that stir not when the star shells burst on high; Gently bending o'er them beneath the moon's soft glance, Poppies of the wheat fields on the ransomed hills of France
Poppy Days Events
Nevada County, CA: Grass Valley Mayor Gerard Tassone has proclaimed May 5 and 6 as Poppy Days. Wilma Meyers told me that veterans and auxiliary members will be offering poppies at various businesses in Nevada County. These poppies are made by veterans at the Yountville Veterans Home. This is one way that they make spending money.
Clarion, PA: The Clarion American Legion Ladies Auxiliary is sponsoring its annual “Poppy Days,” Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6. Volunteers will be located throughout the community collecting contributions. Please help the legion help local veterans and their families.
Jupiter, FL: Members of the Auxiliary of American Legion Post No. 271 will be distributing red, handcrafted poppies, in honor of America's war dead, on Friday, May 12, and Saturday, May 13, at three locations in Jupiter.
Tehachapi, CA: The Tehachapi American Legion Auxiliary, Unit 221, has received notice that the official 2006 Poppy Days will be May 14 through May 20. Members of the American Legion and the Auxiliary will be on hand to offer the hand-made poppies and explain the meaning of them.
Lansing and Menominee, MI: American Legion Auxiliary Dept of Michigan holds its Poppy Days on May 18-20, 2006.
Hastings, MN: The Buddy Poppy will be in Hastings businesses by the end of this week. Hastings Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1210 and its auxiliary are sponsoring the annual drive, which will conclude with annual Poppy Days May 19 in Hastings.
Fort Pierce, FL: Sebastian's American Legion Post 189 and Auxiliary Members and Legionnaires will be stationed throughout the community May 19-20 for the annual distribution of these precious remembrances, says Shirley Thornton. Alice Leclerc is Poppy chairman. The VFW also distributes poppies before Memorial Day. In Barefoot Bay, VFW Post and Auxiliary 4425 will be out in force at Barefoot Bay locations, Winn- Dixie, from May 22-27 and Wachovia Bank, May 22-26, according to Joe Walker, post commander and Poppy chairman.
Ellwood City, PA: May 20-21, 2006 Poppy Days throughout Ellwood City. Support Disabled Vets. Buy a poppy during Poppy Days.
Western Springs, IL: Poppy Days will be Wednesday, May 24, and Thursday, May 25, when the Veterans of Foreign Wars Western Springs Memorial Post 10778 collects donations for the Veterans Relief Fund. Since 1990, the post has donated several thousand dollars per year to meet the needs of patients and families at the Department of Veterans Affairs Edward Hines Jr. Hospital and the VFW National Home for Widows and Children in Eaton Rapids, Mich. The post welcomes donations, (708) 246-5759.
Please share your own local Poppy Days events in comments. You may wish to find your local American Legion office and ask when this event will take place in your own neighborhood.
I'll close the list on what may be the perfect little poem, written by one of the poppy makers at Yountville's [CA] Veterans Home:
A scrap of blood red paper, A twist of green and black: We make these poppies in memory, Of the men who never came back
Far from home and loved ones, They sleep in foreign lands; So wear this poppy proudly, Remembering for whom it stands.
This weekend, as we remember the continuing sacrifices of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines involved in Iraq, I'd like to share a poem recently sent in by Chris Woolnough. You'll find her ode to our fighting men and women, a link to the writer's online bulletin board, and links to more poetry shared at PTSD Combat. Please send or post in comments any poems you'd like to share as well. And thank you, soldier.
Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...
Thank you Soldier By Chris Woolnough
Have you stopped to thank a veteran today? For the price of freedom they had to pay? Did you gaze into those distant eyes? Did you see the ghosts he can't deny? Did you think a soldier's heart was made of steel? Because he was trained to kill, he couldn't feel? Did you see the guilt written on his face, For the loss of life he can't replace? Did you know he mourns the lives he couldn't save, And walks with comrades in their grave? Did you remember the boy with innocence lost? Do you really know war's ultimate cost? Have you felt the blast of artillery fire? Do you have the courage it would require? Have you stood in trenches consumed with fear? Felt the enemies breath so very near? Have you walked with God on a battleground? Seen your brothers dead or dying all around? Have you stopped to thank a vet today, Or did you just turn and walk away? From the pain he'll carry for the rest of his life, Did you consider his family, his children, his wife? That watch him suffer in silence each and every day, As he's haunted by memories that don't go away? Did you care that the soldier is still pulling guard? That his heart, mind, and soul will forever be scarred? Do you know how he suffers from ptsd? Or that our precious freedom is never free? Do you care that he still hears the blood curdling screams? Or that he returns to the war each night in his dreams? Have you felt the sorrow of a combat vet? Or would you rather just forget? That war has pierced his hardened heart, And torn this soldier all apart? Would you rather our heroes just fade away? Or will you stop to thank a vet today?
Please visit Chris Woolnough's online community atThe Aftermath of War, Coping with PTSD. You'll find "a safe haven of support for those whose battles live on in The Aftermath of War." Thank you, Chris, for sharing your poetry with us and extending your services to so many appreciative people over the years.
Art has the ability to broach topics that are often more difficult to process head-on. Poetry is one such vehicle. Last month I posted a poem written by leftvet along with a link to a resource for veterans who happen to enjoy writing. Tonight, I'd like to post a few more lines of verse that will provoke and elucidate, make you cringe and perhaps even weep. Feel free to share your own creations in comments if you'd like.
Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...
The following poem was written by the tireless Vietnam vet and advocate Sarge Lintecum. It is a brutal and frank piece of work. When I asked for permission to reprint part of the poem (I intended to leave off the last three stanzas not wishing to offend others), Sarge explained, "I'm going to guess that you are not a veteran because the verses you want to omit are very important to my poem." He went on to gently educate this writer.
I've included Sarge's explanations in the hopes that it will bring about a deeper understanding as well with other non-vets who are trying to get their heads around this issue. Not having gone through the experience of war myself, I appreciated the extra time Sarge took with me, explaining things fully. Thank you, sir.
I love you through my anger, In between my fits of rage. I want us to be happy, But I just can't turn the page.
I see in you the answer To every time I've prayed. Then I get mad; you leave the room; I wish that you had stayed.
My love just wants to hold your hand, But my anger doesn't care. I feel the weight you carry. It really isn't fair.
I gave our country everything The day I went to war. I thought the cost would be my life, But it turned out to be much more.
I look into my child's eyes, And I see a child burned By Napalm lying on the ground, Without a lesson learned. Without this verse the veteran will think his PTSD causing memories are worse than other vets.
So now they send the young folks To act like war is fun, Without a thought of how they'll feel When their killing job is done. Without this verse you would leave out the lack of help from the government that was a bigger slap in my face than "Charlie" (Viet Cong) ever gave me.
When folks go fill their gas tanks I think they all should know, A veteran's future happiness Is drowning in the flow. Without this verse you would leave out the underlying reason for the war that is easily hidden from the public but not the veteran.
Please visit Sarge's website, PTSDHelp2000.com, and read of his own struggle with PTSD. If I may share one more bit of his advice:
One more thing I'd like to pass on that has helped me gain control of every day of my life, rather than having PTSD control my life, is this -- Somewhere along the way, I realized that the tortured life I was leading was ripping off my brothers on the Wall because they gave up their lives and I was throwing mine away. It was then it hit me that if I were to spend my entire after-Nam life torturing myself, feeling bad about myself, and making life miserable for the ones I love, I am dishonoring my brothers on the Wall.
So think of how you'll feel when you tell them all about the life you had after Nam, because that's the first thing they're going to want to know about when we see them again. They're going to want to hear that we all had happy, wonderful lives, just like the life they had imagined having if they had made it home and, I for one, am going to have a hell of a fun story to tell them.
If you'd like to join in and thank Sarge for his work in PTSD education and assistance, please email Sarge and say 'thanks'...
And check out Sarge's 'day job' as a master blues harmonica player. He and his wife, Leslie, do student outreach in the Arizona/SW California area, helping kids cultivate their love of music and poetry; Sarge also travels the country performing at veterans' events and blues concerts.
Thank you for your service to our country in and out of uniform, sir.
I'd like to thank leftvet for sharing this poem yesterday:
To My Lover
I lie awake Rigid, like a body stiffened by death Staring You knuckle your eyes and yawn Are you all right?
Woman, do not ask me for my nightmares To tender away They slither from a black hole in my conscience You cannot fill the hole with love It is bottomless
I fumble for my mask It is nothing Sleep
If you're a writer and a veteran, I've got a resource to share that will help you cultivate and celebrate your inner author.
Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...
Writing to process combat experiences is a highly valuable tool in coping with PTSD. The Hospitalized Veterans Writing Project (HVWP) offers "a therapeutic writing program designed to acknowledge veterans’ experiences and build self-esteem through creative expression and possible publication. Veterans are encouraged to submit their manuscripts (prose, poetry and artwork) for national publication in Veterans' VoicesVeterans’ Voices, the only publication dedicated solely to veterans’ writings."
While a wide variety of events can trigger what's called post-traumatic stress disorder, this PTSD blog focuses solely on the combat-related variety.
As a new generation of warriors returns to civilian life and seeks out resources, PTSD Combat is here to help.
"The first shamans earned their keep in primitave societies by providing explanations and rituals that enabled man to deal with his environment and his personal anguish. Early man, no less than we, dealt with forces that he could not understand or control, and he attempted to come to grips with his vulnerablity by trying to bring order to his universe." -- Richard Gabriel in No More Heroes
"War stories end when the battle is over or when the soldier comes home. In real life, there are no moments amid smoldering hilltops for tranquil introspection. When the war is over, you pick up your gear, walk down the hill and back into the world." -- OIF vet John Crawford in The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell
"After wars' end, soldiers once again become civilians and return to their families to try to pick up where they left off. It is this process of readjustment that has more often than not been ignored by society. -- Major Robert H. Stretch, Ph.D in Textbook of Military Medicine: Vol. 6 Combat Stress
The information presented on this web site is based on news reports, medical and government documents, and personal analysis. It does NOT represent therapeutic prescription or recommendation. For specific advice and information, consult your health care provider.
Comments at PTSD Combat do not necessarily represent the editor's views. Illegal or inappropriate material will be removed when brought to our attention. The existence of such does not reflect an endorsement.
This site contains at times large portions of copyrighted material not specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This material is used for educational purposes, to forward understanding of issues that concern veterans and military families. In accordance with U.S. Copyright Law Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit. More information.
Creative expressions of war by its warriors is nothing new. That's because one of the most powerful ways to communicate and process an intense experience like combat is through art. Returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan are no different than past veterans, and they've begun sharing their poetry, paintings, and musings with us. Here's a brief look at a few of them...
PBS' NewsHour w/Jim Lehrer recently 
Jeff Barillaro, aka 
Today, PTSD Combat is 'pinning a poppy on' in order to pay tribute to our veterans. The 
This weekend, as we remember the continuing sacrifices of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines involved in Iraq, I'd like to share a poem recently sent in by Chris Woolnough. You'll find her ode to our fighting men and women, a link to the writer's online bulletin board, and links to more poetry shared at PTSD Combat. Please send or post in comments any poems you'd like to share as well. And thank you, soldier.
2011: Jan