Walker County Wounded Warrior Banquet Draws 1,200

A sight to behold: More than 1,200 people show support for veterans during Wounded Warrior Banquet
The Huntsville Item
By JP McBride
Jan 27, 2017

In suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, many veterans feel like they are alone in their pain and are helpless in finding the healing they need.

The residents of Walker County and others from around the state of Texas showed that there are many Americans who want to help veterans struggling with PTSD find a solution and get them on the road to recovery during the eighth annual Walker County Wounded Warrior Banquet on Thursday night.

A sellout crowd of more than 1,200 generous folks made their way to the main building of the Walker County Fairgrounds for the banquet to honor the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country by donating to organizations like the Lone Survivor Foundation and Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs, as well as the Warrior Family Support Center in San Antonio.
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Stronger (2017) - Official Trailer (HD)

Film draws awareness to PTSD, provides suicide intervention

Combat PTSD? They Have Salsa For That

Houston Salsa Congress attracts veterans seeking stress relief
Focus on the dance helps alleviate some PTSD symptoms
Houston Cronicle
By Katherine Blunt
January 14, 2017

"You have to know how to lock into a moment and be OK with everything going on around you," Chris Fahey

Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff
Houston Salsa Congress workshop participant Harrison Bohanan follows instructor
Franklin Liranzo's dance moves to warm up before a class Saturday in Houston.

Shoulders as loose as his hips, Franklin Liranzo twisted and shimmied to percussive Latin music at the head of a crowded dance floor.

A high twirl of his finger had 50 dancers spinning in place. A downward flick brought them slinking to the ground.

"I hope you're warm," he exclaimed as the dancers caught their breath.

Liranzo, a skilled dancer and former U.S. Marine, led the group through a warm-up Saturday at the Houston Salsa Congress, a four-day series of workshops and performances at the Westin Hotel in Memorial City. He is one of many veterans who uses salsa and the intense focus its requires to alleviate some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The congress, expected to attract more than 2,000 dancers, instructors and spectators, is an annual event run by Houston Salsa Dancers, a nonprofit organization that uses the proceeds to provide scholarships for underprivileged Houston teens. It features salsa enthusiasts of every skill level from around the world.
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Looking For God In The Wrong Places

Are you looking for God in the wrong place? 
If we search for Him in the dirt and debris we are looking for Him in the wrong place.

This is a repost from 2012.

Looking for God in the wrong places
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
September 12, 2012

Last night I was watching The Four Crosses at Ground Zero.

"As rescue and recovery began, fireman, police, and rescue workers would be forced to endure the nightmare of working and living inside Ground Zero. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into hopelessness as the reality of what had happened sunk in. While working in Building 6 in the World Trade Center complex, workers discovered a cavernous type hole in the debris."

As I listened to some of the people there, while I thought it was a beautiful story, I kept thinking of what was missing from the program.

It is easy to wonder where God was on that horrible day as other people decided such evil acts were justified when they used everything in their power to kill. Where was He? Why didn't He stop it? How could a loving God allow it to happen?

We ask those questions all the time. We suffer in our lives, then try to figure out why God thought we deserved it. What did we do to make Him turn away from us?

If we search for Him in the dirt and debris we are looking for Him in the wrong place.

God was on those planes that hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon as much as he was on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. He was not the pilot but He was the comforter. When one hand reached out to comfort someone else, He was right there. Whenever people push past thoughts for themselves to think of someone else, He is there.

Many wonder why He didn't just cause the hijackers to suffer a heart attack an spare so many innocent lives. Others wonder why He just didn't stop them from doing it. The truth is in the Bible that God does not interfere with freewill so He would not have just snatched the hijackers out of their seats. Still how do we know He didn't try to get them to change their hearts?

It is natural for us to ask what caused other humans to do such horrible things but we miss the other question about what causes so many to do compassionate things afterwards.

What caused the police and firefighters to rush into the buildings after pure evil struck them? What caused them to climb the stairs over and over again trying to save as many lives as possible after others tried to kill as many as possible?

While the evil that man does is apparent, the good they do is inherent. It was not just public employees risking their lives that day, there were average citizens in the Towers thinking of others instead of their own lives. Some of them could have survived had they used the time they had to think of their own lives, but they had the lives of others in their thoughts and actions. It was God driving them to do for others and they had the freewill choice to allow His voice to guide them or not.

But then there were smaller miracles. Survivors reached out to help others. Strangers took the hands of other strangers, put their arms around people they would have normally just walked past under normal circumstances. Then people rushed to the area to give whatever help they could.

Days passed while more and more people showed up to help find survivors and recover bodies. God was still there hearing the prayers of the nation and comforting the weary as they refused to leave.

Families of the missing were comforted by others while the time of hope faded into thinking of funerals for when the remains were found.

Every street across the country became decorated with flags and so did our cars. We were all thinking of others glued to our TV sets and reminded to be kinder to other people.

Even members of Congress joined together on the steps side by side. And we know it took a miracle to do that.

Whenever we look for God in what has been lost, we miss where He was all along.

To Lay Down His Life For The Sake of His Friends

There are some things that just need repeating. Between now and Christmas, I'm digging out some older posts. The dates have changed but the message has not. You can heal.

This is a repost from September 2007

Do you think God abandoned you still? Come on and admit that while you were in the center of the trauma, you either felt the hand of God on your shoulder, or more often, never felt further from Him. In natural disasters, we pray to God to protect us. Yet when it's over we wonder why He didn't make the hurricane hit someplace else or why the tornadoes came and destroyed what we had while leaving the neighbors house untouched. We wonder why He heals some people while the people we love suffer. It is human nature to wonder, search for answers and try to understand.
In times of combat, it is very hard to feel anything Godly. Humans are trying to kill other humans and the horrors of wars become an evil act. The absence of God becomes overwhelming. We wonder how a loving God who blessed us with Jesus, would allow the carnage of war. We wonder how He could possibly forgive us for being a part of it. For soldiers, this is often the hardest personal crisis they face.
They are raised to love God and to be told how much God loves them. For Christians, they are reminded of the gift of Jesus, yet in moments of crisis they forget most of what Jesus went through.
Here are a few lessons and you don't even have to go to church to hear them.


( Matthew 8:5-13)

As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

This sounds like a great act Jesus did. You think about the Roman Centurion, powerful, commanding, able to lead men into combat, perhaps Jesus even knew of the other men this Centurion has killed. Yet this same man, capable of killing, was also capable of great compassion for what some regarded as a piece of property, his slave. He showed he didn't trust the pagan gods the Romans prayed to but was willing to trust Jesus.
Yet when you look deeper into this act, it proves that Jesus has compassion for the warriors. The life and death of Jesus were not surprises to Him. He knew from the very beginning how it would end. This is apparent throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. He knew He would be betrayed, beaten, mocked, humiliated and nailed to the cross by the hands of Romans. Yet even knowing this would come, He had compassion for this Roman soldier. The Romans had tortured and killed the Jews since the beginning of their empire as well as other conquered people. The Roman soldiers believed in what they were doing, yet even with that, there was still documentation of them suffering for what they did.
Ancient historians documented the illness striking the Greeks, which is what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There is evidence this illness hit every generation of warriors. Jesus would be aware that saving the Centurion's slave, because of the faith and trust He placed in Jesus, would be reported from soldier to soldier. Jesus showed compassion even to the Romans.
How can we think that He would not show compassion to today's soldiers? How can we think that He would look any differently on them than He did toward the soldiers who would nail Him to the Cross?
God didn't send you into combat. Another human did. God however created who you are inside. The ability to be willing to lay down your life for the sake of others was in you the day you were born. While God allows freewill, for good and for evil, He also has a place in His heart for all of His children. We humans however let go of His hand at the time we need to hold onto it the most.
When tragedy and trauma strike, we wonder where God was that He allowed it to happen. Then we blame ourselves. We do the "if" and " but" over and over again in our own minds thinking it was our fault and the trauma was a judgment from God. Yet we do not consider that God could very well be the reason we survived it all.
PTSD is a double edge cut to the person. The trauma strikes the emotions and the sense that God has abandoned us strikes at the soul. There is no greater sense of loss than to feel as if God has left you alone especially after surviving trauma and war. If you read the passage of Jesus and the Roman, you know that this would be impossible for God to do to you. Search your soul and you will find Him still there.
For the last story on this we have none other than the Arch Angel Michael. The warrior angel. If God did not value the warrior for the sake of good, then why would He create a warrior angel and make him as mighty as he was?Michael has a sword in one hand and a scale in the other. God places things in balance for the warriors.

And in John 15:

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

When it comes to waging war, issuing orders, God will judge the hearts and minds of those who sent you and He will also know yours. If you feel you need to be forgiven, then ask for it and you will be forgiven. Yet if you know in your heart the basis of your service was that of the willingness to lay down your life for your friends, then ask to be healed. Know this. That if Jesus had the compassion for a Roman how could He have any less compassion for you?Because the military is in enough trouble already trying to evangelize soldiers for a certain branch of Christianity, understand this is not part of that. It's one of the benefits of having I don't care what faith you have or which place of worship you attended. If you were a religious person at any level before combat, your soul is in need of healing as well. There is a tremendous gift when the psychological healing is combined with the spiritual healing. If you have a religious leader you can talk to, please seek them out.


Kathie Costos

Stupidity Feeds Stigma of PTSD

Replace Stupidity with Spectacular 
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 23, 2016

For over three decades I have heard all kinds of things, had my heart broken more times than I can calculate, but then there are moments, when I am in awe of how spectacular these veterans truly are. 

Parade Magazine published an article written by Paula Spencer Scott this month, "Feeling Awe May Be the Secret to Health and Happiness." Stacy Bare, an Iraq veteran said he was suffering from PTSD and wondered "What does it mean to be at home, a veteran anyway?" He went to the Druid Arch in Utah and was struck by "awe" beginning a change within him.

“Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast or beyond human scale, that transcends our current understanding of things,” says psychologist Dacher Keltner, who heads the University of California, Berkeley’s Social Interaction Lab.

That keeps getting missed in this messed up, convoluted dialog on PTSD and suicides connected to military service. It isn't that they were not able to "handle it" but handled it the whole time when the men and women in their unit are deployed with them. Why? Because their lives matter and they are willing to die for one another.

That comes from a strong emotional core. The very worthy part of them that caused such devotion is also the part of them that grieves from losing so many they cared for.

The "awe" moment for them is when they realize they are not stuck suffering, do not have anything to be ashamed of and they can heal. We just allow other conversations to permeate the news they hear.


When Donald Trump said “When you talk about the mental health problems - when people come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can’t handle it." he showed he doesn't get it. The problem is, far too many are just like him.

There are Medal of Honor Recipients openly talking about their own battles with PTSD so that others may overcome the rumor of weakness or claims of lacking intestinal fortitude. There are Special Forces veterans talking about what they also experience coming home along with Generals speaking openly, hoping to lead by example.

Folks can do all the talking they want about the "problem" of suicides to make others aware, and get noticed by the press, but they never seem to mention their talk is doing no good at all. It is feeding the stigma.

If they want to do pushups or other publicity stunts, who does that actually serve? Is it the suffering veterans forced to remain in the shadows? Is it the families left behind wondering what they did wrong and blaming themselves? Or is it the people wanting attention for themselves?

Stupidity feeds the stigma of PTSD and leaves them trapped in an endless cycle of suffering and search for what will bring them out of the darkness within their souls. What may be an easy number to remember, they were more than an abstract number to their families.

Isn't it time to actually focus on what is possible and good instead of simply focusing on all this talk of anguish? It is obvious that none of the popular "efforts" managed to change anything other than spread the heartache. How about we talk more about the "awe" moments that begin the healing and replace despair with encouragement?

Gulf War Veteran Woke Up From Coma After Final Prayer

Veteran awakens from coma during final prayer; family now faces mountain of red tape to bring him home
WHNT News
BY DAVID KUMBROCH
OCTOBER 17, 2016

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A Gulf War veteran’s family had to make a difficult choice recently, and only a miracle could change their tragic course.

Gulf War veteran Frank Bedwell was in a coma. With the pressure of a brain bleed pressing against them, his family came to a conclusion.

“My kids and myself, we all knew what he would want for himself. We knew that he didn’t want to live on machines for the rest of his life,” said Amy Bedwell, Frank’s wife.

They decided to turn off the machines at six o’clock.

“Fifteen minutes before it was time to pull the plug, I sent everybody out except for my kids,” Amy recalled.

“We called my dad. We prayed for him. And he woke up.”
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Sheriff Deputies Train as Chaplains

Chaplains’ care also goes to deputies
Course for ‘a ministry of presence’ is the first of its kind in Bexar County
San Antonio Express News
By Elaine Ayala
July 16, 2016

For the first time in Bexar County, 20 volunteer chaplains have received training to care and counsel sheriff’s deputies in what’s described as “a ministry of presence.”

Bexar County Sheriff's Office volunteer chaplain Bette Huereca, right, speaks with Sheriff Deputy Michelle Grabowski.

The Ecumenical Center created the Chaplains for Justice Training Program, an intensive 14-week course accredited by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. It’s considered a rarity in law enforcement, and the training is a first here.

Faith leaders and ministers long have worked in the county’s jail system, focused on the spiritual needs of inmates. Less attention has gone to the emotional well-being of law enforcement officers, though there is a growing recognition of its importance, most recently after the killings of five Dallas officers by a sniper during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest.

The Sheriff’s Office began recruiting volunteer chaplains in 2013, spurred by the suicide of a detention officer that year. Its 14 chaplains received the training,and several others who graduated with them could help bolster their numbers, officials said. The county has a separate set of chaplains who minister to inmates.
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Veteran Has New Mission After Attempted Suicide, Saving Others

Suicide Attempt: A Soldier's Story
ABC News 25
By Jillian Corder, Reporter
Friday, May 27th 2016

"There's no way that God allowed me to live through this if there is a God - which I know there is - that he would not want me to be helping other people when he saved me through that," Matthew Richard

After struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , or PTSD, for years, Matthew Richard attempted to take his own life in March. (Source: Jillian Corder/KPLC)

SULPHUR, LA (KPLC)
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in Louisiana, and every 13 hours, someone dies by their own hand, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Nationwide, stories of veterans falling victim to mental health disorders are all too common.

After struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder , or PTSD, for years, Matthew Richard, 30, attempted to take his own life in March.

"So I looked in the mirror and I said 'God I'm going to countdown,'" Richard said, describing the moment he decided to take his own life, "I said 3, and I took it off safety. I said '3, 2, 1' and I said 'God' and I shot."

To understand what led Richard to this moment, he starts from the beginning of his military career. He joined the Marine Corps in 2005, following in the footsteps of his godfather.

"I told myself since I was 6 or 7 years old that I was going to be a Marine because of him," he said.

Just two years in the service, tragedy struck when Richard was overseas in Ramadi, Iraq.

"I ended up accidentally shooting a best friend of mine over there when we got back from patrol," said Richard.

Richard's gun discharged, killing Lance Corporal Steven Chavez. He went to the brig for a year for negligent homicide and received a bad conduct discharge, meaning his military benefits were stripped. Richard was no longer eligible for help from the VA, forcing him to deal with PTSD on his own.

"I was struggling mentally, physically, and spiritually for a long time after that dealing with it," said Richard.

Richard was in a place he never thought he'd be.

"I've had four or five senior Marines who have come back from war and shot themselves over divorce or other things, and I told myself, 'I'll never do that.'"
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KXXV-TV News Channel 25 - Central Texas News and Weather for Waco, Temple, Killeen |

Cannot Change Yesterday But You Are In Control of Tomorrow

You Are The Master of Your Fate
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 15, 2016

Invictus Games

"I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul" but what does that mean to you? It means that you cannot change what happened yesterday but you can change your future. You are in charge. 

You are the one in control of your soul and while most talk about the "moral injury" part of PTSD, few tell you that you are not destined to suffer but created with the intention of healing.

Do you surrender to what some people think of you or do you know enough about yourself to know that it isn't true? It really shouldn't matter to you what others think but what you think should matter more.

Learning what PTSD really is is the first step toward defeating it.

Under the Rules of Engagement the Marines learn, to "act as a control mechanism for the transition from peacetime to combat operations" but on the flip side, it is also important to transition from combat operations into peacetime as a veteran. Forget about fitting back in with the people you knew in your hometown unless they are part of the veteran community.

"We must review all aspects of the fight, from weaponeering to the understanding of proportionate force. Training needs to be discussion and scenario based, thus forcing Marines to articulate their perceptions of and responses to the situations. 

You may have tried the wrong "weapons" to fight PTSD like self-medicating or just stuffing it until you get over it.  That does not work.  Sure, you can get busy getting your mind off of all of it, but you are not fighting it.  You are giving it time to get stronger instead of making it weaker so you can defeat it. Going from a lower level of PTSD, when it is most reversible pretty much guaranties that you'll be hit by a secondary stressor (another traumatic event) that pushes that mild PTSD into PTSD with massive teeth latching onto any part of your life it can attack. 

In combat, there are many weapons used, not just one. It is the same when battling the war going on inside of you.  

Healing has to involve every part of what makes you, you.  That means it has to be taking care of your mind, your body as well as your soul.

If you think that PTSD is a sign of any kind of weakness, then you don't understand anymore than they do.  If you know that it comes from surviving where you were sent, doing what you had to do, seeing what you saw, enduring all kinds of hardships and came from a strong soul.  That very soul that made you choose a military life no matter the risk to your life.

The truth is that everything you need to heal is already inside of you but you won't be able to find that power until you face what PTSD is. While it sucks to have it, it isn't really as bad as you think because it comes for a place that is still good inside of you. Your perception of it as "bad" causes thousands of veterans a year to give up on themselves but you are reading this so there is still hope inside of you.

Start with the basic facts. Post (after) Traumatic (trauma is Greek for wound) Stress (mind body and spirit ) (cause) Disorder (in survivors) because you survived "it" and it shouldn't be worse living as a survivor. It doesn't have to be if you learn more about yourself.

You may think "I'm weak" but actually you have a very strong emotional core and that strength allowed you to do what you had to do in order to save lives. As an all volunteer force, remember, weak people do not even think of putting their lives on the line for someone else.  As for older veterans, some of them were drafted, forced to go, yet managed to risk their lives while they were deployed. 

They knew the risks and they suffered the same as those who decided to join. No wound created by war is new.  

You may think "I'm evil" but tell me how an evil person can grieve? Would an evil person actually think that much about someone else or feel the pain of loss or suffer in the depth of their soul? No, they'd be off on their merry way to live out the rest of their days perfectly happy focusing on themselves.

So you are not weak and you are not evil.  You are also not meant to suffer but meant to heal so the next part of your life you can use that same soul tugging connection to help others living life as a veteran.

PTSD cannot be cured but the scar inside of you can heal. Find what works for you but remember, it has to be all about every part of you.  Mind, body and spirit can heal when they work together.

Change the way you think about what you survived.  You can be your worst enemy.  Honestly look at what your snap judgment may have you thinking you could have done differently and then honestly put it together.  You'll see what you may think you could have done would be for a movie super hero and not a human in real life.

Apprehension gets in the way of healing.  Think of it this way. In combat you had no problem asking for help as expecting it.  You trusted those you were with and when you needed more help, you were happy to see reinforcements show up.  Same thing when dealing with what came after combat.  Call in as much help as you can get.  Lives mattered then and you life matters just as much now.

For the body, you were trained to be prepared for all the physical hardships you subjected your body to.  You need to retrain to prepare your body to calm down and stop your nervous system from overreacting to daily life.

For the soul, you are in fact captain of, start with these and then explore the territory you have not noticed before.  The thing that makes you what and who you are.

Remember you are not alone and all other generations have had the same wounds within you.  Take comfort in knowing that it all comes from a very wonderful part of you.  The same place where pain comes from is also where love still lives on waiting for the next part of your life when you find peace with yesterday and understand that tomorrow is in your control.  You took the steps to serve, no take the steps to heal.

Researchers Forget Emotions Tied To Memories

When will researchers understand there is a lot more going on in the human mind than just remembering? I keep hoping they will do a study involving everything that makes us, us. Our minds hold emotions tied to the memories they want us to just forget.

Memory study shows how people can intentionally forget past experiences
News Medical Life Sciences and Medicine
Published on May 6, 2016

Context plays a big role in our memories, both good and bad. Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" on the car radio, for example, may remind you of your first love -- or your first speeding ticket. But a Dartmouth- and Princeton-led brain scanning study shows that people can intentionally forget past experiences by changing how they think about the context of those memories.

The findings have a range of potential applications centered on enhancing desired memories, such as developing new educational tools, or diminishing harmful memories, including treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study appears in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. A PDF is available on request.

Since Ancient Greece, memory theorists have known that we use context -- or the situation we're in, including sights, sounds, smells, where we are, who we are with -- to organize and retrieve our memories. But the Dartmouth- and Princeton-led team wanted to know whether and how people can intentionally forget past experiences. They designed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment to specifically track thoughts related to memories' contexts, and put a new twist on a centuries-old psychological research technique of having subjects memorize and recall a list of unrelated words. In the new study, researchers showed participants images of outdoor scenes, such as forests, mountains and beaches, as they studied two lists of random words, manipulating whether they were told to forget or remember the first list prior to studying the second list.
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There is a long list of times when I almost died and a few others when it was not a matter of I could have died, but I should have died according to doctors treating me. The first time I heard those words I was only five after a series of things going wrong. Long story short, another kid pushed me off a slide. Not down it, but over the side of it at a drive-in movie. When my older brother found me, he thought I was dead but I was just knocked out. At the hospital, the doctor read the X-ray wrong and missed the crack in my scull and she also missed the signs of a concussion. She told my parents to take me home and let me get a good night sleep. Worst thing to do with a concussion and head trauma. The next day I was rushed to another hospital because my eyelid was swollen and I had a hard time talking. Turned out the doctor couldn't figure out why I was still alive.

The next time it was eight months after my daughter was born. I walked around with an infection that was not treated properly and my system turned septic. My doctor said he had never seen a bacteria count that high on a live patient and he was not sure why I was still alive.

Other times when stuff tried to end me included a violent alcoholic Dad up until I was thirteen and an ex-husband who tried to kill me, car accident and other health problems and then the usual bad memories of losing people I loved.

Every memory is tied to my soul/spirit but none of them have control over my life simply because I made peace with all of them while they are still a part of who I am today. The only way to make peace with the things that I survived was to forgive when someone did it to me and view the rest of the things as surviving them.

Making peace with each time was not easy but it was harder to go through them than to deal with them.

Even after all these years, going to a hospital will bring back memories of being a patient in them. Seeing a movie with a drive-in movie as a location brings back the memory of the night going from being a family night out to one of the worst nights of my life. It set off a chain of events including my Dad going from drinking some beers into a full-blown rage filled alcoholic blaming everyone including himself for my close call with death. He especially blamed my older brother for letting me get away from him. A very heavy burden to place on a twelve year old.

My Mom and my brothers never forgave him for the way he was during all those years even when he went to AA and got sober. They hung onto all the negative memories and it ate at their souls robbing them from all the good feelings that could have replaced the bad ones.

Until researchers stop thinking about our brains as if they are simply a super computer with files they can delete, they will never figure out a way to properly treat us with all that comes with that is tied to our memories.

Dangers, toils, and snares of PTSD

Living A Life of Joy and Peace
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 29, 2016

"Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home" written in the song Amazing Grace followed by "A life of joy and peace."

That is what you can have living as veteran no matter which country you risked your life in because the cause you risked it for was to save the lives of those you were with.

The dangers, you knew far too many. The toils, you were willing to endure again for the sake of those you serve with. More often than not, veterans speak of the cause of their pain originating during combat yet it was not until they were all back home they allowed themselves to feel it. When asked how they just pushed past all of it, they said others were counting on them to be there for them. That is why the most dangerous times come after combat to the survivors of it. That is the snare you are trapped by and it has a name.  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, more often called simply PTSD.

Grace can lead you closer to really being home than drifting away from those you love. "With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world."

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)

That sav'd a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears reliev'd;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believ'd!

Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis'd good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease;

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who call'd me here below,

Will be forever mine.

John Newton, Olney Hymns, 1779

"He promised good to me" and that is a righteous promise. Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

If you were called to be among the number of men and women putting their very lives on the line for the sake of someone else, then you need to understand what that means. If you were tugged to join the few serving the many, then the desire was put into you along with all you needed to do it. The physical strength and endurance. The courage to react and compassion to take action. Everything you needed to do your "job" was already there. The part that has been kept secret from you is what you need to recover from doing those "jobs" is also within you. He planned for the price you would pay for what you did for others.

There are many different causes of PTSD and levels but there are also different types of it.  The one we need to focus on now is the one that began all the research into what trauma does to survivors.  In this case, you are dealing with something rare because you rare.  

If you served in the military you are less than 10 percent of the population of the US yet "Here are some facts (based on the U.S. population):

• About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people (or 7-8% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
• About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.
• About 10 of every 100 (or 10%) of women develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 (or 4%) of men. Learn more about women, trauma and PTSD.

While all generations of veterans came home changed by what they had to face for the sake of others, it was not until WWI when a psychiatrist was embedded with troops to study what it was doing to them but if you read any part of the Bible, you'll also see it written along with ancient accounts of war.  

The term PTSD began when Vietnam veterans came home and fought for the research and that led to a greater understanding of humans surviving everything else.

It is human nature to ask why you lived when others did not.  It is yet another snare when you think you should not have survived.  When suffering begins to take over the life you have, then you begin to think that surviving is punishment instead of anything else and very far from being blessed by the grace of more days to spend with family, friends and doing what you love to do.  Far removed from "a life of joy and peace" you begin to believe that it is all impossible for you but it is possible because it is all within you.

Start with what this week means to Orthodox Christians.  This is our Holy Week. Today marks the time when Jesus was taken down from the Cross and He said,

 “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

There is nothing you cannot be forgiven for if Jesus forgave the people who nailed Him to the Cross and you also need to know that it is also written there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for the sake of his friends but should have added being willing to lay down their lives for the sake of strangers. That is what you were willing to do and there was no evil in that.

There is no cure for PTSD but there is limitless healing.  You can never go back to the way you were before but no human can go back to the person they were yesterday.  The power PTSD had over you a second ago no longer has the same power in this moment and the next is within your power.  Your future is in your hands and grace can lead you home to live a better quality of life beginning with this moment.

Healing PTSD requires understanding what it is so you can get the rumors out of the way.  It also requires involving the whole you, mind, body and spirit, since all of you was involved in combat itself.  You need psychological help, physical help to teach your body to calm down and react differently as much as you need help spiritually to help your spirit use the power you were given to heal.

Time to kick the snares out of your way and live a life of joy and peace.  That is what you really need to be made aware of with all the talk about "raising awareness" from others.

Serving Becomes Surviving For Firefighters with PTSD

WHEN SERVING BECOMES SURVIVING: PTSD AND SUICIDE IN THE FIRE SERVICE
Firefighter Close Calls
Peggy Sweeney
September 19, 2015

To train to become a firefighter is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your neighbors. Few civilians appreciate the many sacrifices they make or the toll it takes on their body, mind, and spirit.

Firefighters consistently come in contact with many elements of stress and trauma. They deal with life-threatening situations and witness human tragedy and death regularly. While trying to cope with the carnage, the stress, and the nightmares, they return again and again to fight fires and save lives. They struggle physically, mentally, and emotionally to survive the horrific calls. Then return home to self-medicate to forget. For many of them, this is their normal day.

While watching a news report about a major apartment fire with many casualties including several children, I became aware of a group of professionals who regularly experience grief and traumatic stress; specifically, the men and women who serve their communities as firefighters. In spite of their dedicated service to their communities, few people in the civilian world are aware of, or seem to be concerned about, their physical, mental, and emotional struggles.

Soon after that newscast, I outlined the Grieving Behind the Badge program and set my sights on offering help. I had expertise in grief and loss, but that did not prepare me for the obstacles before me.

The fire service is a culture unto itself. Words such as brotherhood and sisterhood and family are not loosely used in fire stations. If a firefighter is severely injured on the job, the hallways of the hospital are lined with members of their department who stand watch and attend to every need of the family.

When a firefighter dies in the line of duty, every firefighter from that department or station stands watch on scene until the body is recovered and carried respectfully to the waiting ambulance.

Because of this closeness to one another, you can surely understand how difficult it is for a civilian, much less a woman, to gain acceptance into their minds and hearts. In other words, I didn’t walk the walk nor talk the talk of a firefighter. Before I could help them, I needed to educate myself.

Fortunately, I met several emergency response professionals who willingly shared their personal stories that brought to light many of the demons that haunted their dreams and contributed to the rising statistics of substance abuse, divorce, post-traumatic stress (PTSD), and suicide in the fire service community.

“Who takes care of us? Our families?

They try, I know mine did. But the average or normal person cannot share our experience, they can’t imagine what we do or see. … For me personally, I decided to treat my condition, my discomfort with alcohol. The ease and comfort that came from a bottle was a welcome house guest. I could turn off the noise, shut out the visions and thoughts with at first a few beers and in the end gallons. … Only by chance did my wife discover my suicide attempt, without her intervention my effort would have been a success”. (Casey, 2012)
read more here

New Port Richey Martial Arts Class Free For Veterans

Lightning-fast martial art draws in students in NPR
The Suncoast News
BY KELLY S. KELLY
Special to The Suncoast News
Published: August 26, 2015

NEW PORT RICHEY — In a blur of motion, combatants at Gulfcoast FCS Kali clash with sticks and knives in a weapons-based tribal martial arts system called Filipino Combat Systems — or FCS Kali.

The system, used by military teams around the world, was developed by Tuhon Ray Dionaldo, one of the most sought-after weapons experts in 96 countries.

Owner Ray Norton has worked in FCS Kali for five years, two years in his current location. He’s been in martial arts most of his life and also currently is employed as a fireman.

“We have professional men and women — doctors, lawyers, military and ex-military — participating,” Norton said. “It makes no difference if you have a background in martial arts or none at all. At Gulfcoast FCS Kali, everyone starts over. If you come off the street you will be struggling right alongside someone with 20 years of martial arts. It takes time.”

Norton says that the combat system is recognizable from the popular Jason Bourne movies. It’s a style that uses sticks, knives, broomstick, lamps or anything in your hand.

“Classes are free to combat veterans and those who have served in support of combat operations,” said Norton. “The system helps tremendously with post traumatic stress disorder. Some veterans are older, have been out of combat for a while, are injured or cannot do it anymore. FCS Kali becomes a connection back to what they’re used to doing.”
read more here

Defeating PTSD Starts With Understanding It

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 20, 2015

My friend Gunny keeps saying "Improvise, Adapt and Overcome." (adopted mantra in many units) That is part of the "awareness" that has escaped all the good meaning folks running around the country as if brining the problem to the public's attention has done any good at all. Civilians don't understand why so many veterans commit suicide anymore than they understand much else about the military. On the flip side, veterans are well aware of the problems far too many face but what they need to know more is what they can do to change any of it.

Some veterans want the "D" dropped from the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as if that would change the way folks think.

Ty Carter, Afghanistan veteran and Medal of Honor Recipient is among many believing the term change would change attitudes. It won't. It has been tried far too many times before. As researchers learned more about what trauma does, especially combat trauma, they have adapted terms to include what they learned.

First take the word "Trauma" itself since all of us know "Post" means after something,

trauma (n.) 1690s, "physical wound," medical Latin, from Greek trauma "a wound, a hurt; a defeat," from PIE *trau-, extended form of root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn," with derivatives referring to twisting, piercing, etc. (see throw (v.)). Sense of "psychic wound, unpleasant experience which causes abnormal stress" is from 1894.

And now "stress"

Medical Definition of STRESS
1 a : a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part; especially : the intensity of this mutual force commonly expressed in pounds per square inch
b : the deformation caused in a body by such a force
2 a : a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation
b : a state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium
3: the force exerted between teeth of the upper and lower jaws during mastication

And now "disorder"

Definition of DISORDER
1: to disturb the order of
2: to disturb the regular or normal functions of

As you can see, the term fits what it is perfectly. The trouble isn't with the term but with how it has received a negative attitude.

When things are out of place, it means that everything is still there but the pieces are jumbled up.

Think of a puzzle. When my daughter was 2, her Godmother gave her a couple of puzzles for older kids. I put them away for when she was ready for them but somehow she found them. She thought they were pictures. She took off the covering and a piece fell out. She thought she broke the picture and was upset until I explained to her that it wasn't broken and just needed to be put back in again. Long story short, she ended up mastering putting pieces where they needed to go.

American Military History Jigsaw Puzzle 1000pc

It is all together when the pieces are cut and shaped. Then they are put into a box, closed, sealed and shipped off. When you open it, you see a nice box cover then look at the 1,000 pieces wondering how you can make it all fit back together again.

All the pieces are there in the disordered pile just like a veteran with PTSD. It is all still there. The basic reason they decided to serve is still there but they just can't find it in the pile of all they went through. All their memories are covering it.

The good times they shared are still there but again, more pieces are on top that are not so good and not so nice. Somehow the painful ones cover the good memories. Covering the painful ones are the horrific ones.

Once everything is being put into place, a different image emerges. Miss a couple of pieces and it won't look the same as when all the pieces are put back into the proper place.

Veterans are not missing any pieces and there is nothing weak about them. When you consider they managed to survive combat, that is not even a logical one. Another illogical assumption is that they are stuck suffering the way they are right now. While there is no cure for PTSD, there is healing. No one is stuck suffering. PTSD can be defeated.

Debellatio means the act of conquering or subduing. The term indicates end of a war caused by complete destruction of a hostile state.

There can be an end to the internal war fought inside the veteran because of the external battles they fought in our name.

It has to begin by addressing the whole veteran. Their mind, body and their soul/spirit or for those who do not believe in the soul, the emotional part of the mind. Leave one part out and the outcome is not as good as if all the parts were included in the final production.

Anyone paying attention, or thinking they have, has repeated the "22 a day" as the count of veterans surviving combat but taking their own lives back at home. That number is not real. State after state reports that veterans are committing suicide double the civilian population rate. For younger veterans, they commit suicide triple their peer rate. Even with all the "awareness" being raised and all the charities, foundations and this research project followed by that program, the numbers show it is a whole lot of folks feeling good about doing something even though that "something" has done more harm than good.

Veterans are not a "project"

something that is contemplated, devised, or planned; plan; scheme.

They are "protectors" and willing to die in order to save others they serve with.

A hero (masculine or gender-neutral) or heroine (feminine) (Ancient Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs) is a person or character who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displays courage or self-sacrifice—that is, heroism—for some greater good. Historically, the first heroes displayed courage or excellence as warriors. The word's meaning was later extended to include moral excellence.

Etymology
The word hero comes from the Greek ἥρως (hērōs), "hero, warrior",[3] literally "protector" or "defender".[4] Before the decipherment of Linear B the original form of the word was assumed to be *ἥρωϝ-, hērōw-; R. S. P. Beekes has proposed a Pre-Greek origin.[5]

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the Indo-European root is *ser meaning "to protect". According to Eric Partridge in Origins, the Greek word Hērōs "is akin to" the Latin seruāre, meaning to safeguard. Partridge concludes, "The basic sense of both Hera and hero would therefore be 'protector'."

PTSD does not have to win at all but as long as we accept what has been going on instead of changing the conversation, changing the way we treat them, they will never see what is really inside of them or discover what is possible. The truth is, as bad as the real numbers are of veterans committing suicide, the majority of them are healing because they stopped doing what didn't work and found what worked for them.

A lot of that has to do with the fact they understand that they will not fit back into the civilian world, since civilians did not understand them when they were in the military any more than they can understand that level of unselfishness. They do fit in perfectly with other veterans and among them, they are understood, supported and find they do in fact belong with them.

There are many other words we can use like this one,

Nikao (pronounced nik-ah'-o) to subdue (literally or figuratively):--conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory.

What is "evil" within them is only a thought they have and that voice can get so loud they actually start to forget that they are not evil. Evil people do not grieve for anyone other than themselves. There is no pain greater than grieving for someone else or as unselfish. If they understand where that pain is coming from, they are part way there to defeating the pain they carry.

1 John 2:14 New International Version (NIV) I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

No veteran is stuck where they are and the real evidence of walking miracles is what they turn around to do once they begin to heal. They pass it on so that other veterans can live better lives as well.

Yoga Calms and Bonds Florida Veterans

Yoga helps Manatee vets copes with mental, physical pains 
Bradenton Herald
BY JAMES A. JONES JR.
May 14, 2015

"Yoga has become much more acceptable to the veteran community," Roberts said.

U.S. Army vets visit before the start of Connected Warrior yoga.JAMES A. JONES JR./Bradenton Herald

MANATEE -- For a few moments each week, the Connected Warrior yoga class pushes back on aches and pains, and memories bringing nothing but anguish.

Some come with post-traumatic stress disorder, diabetic neuropathy, lower back problems, bad knees and more.

Heyward Hawkins, 77, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1956 to 1960 during peacetime. 

"I look forward to coming here for what it does for me mentally and physically," Hawkins said.


"When I am in yoga class, I am reminded that someone cares about me."

Goodwill Manasota began offering free yoga classes for veterans and their families at 8490 Lockwood Ridge Road in 2014.

Harriet Roberts and Linda Lee of Garden of the Heart Yoga, who present the Connected Warrior class, said they feel honored to lead the local veterans.

They know some veteran problems will be with them all of their days. read more here