A story we don't often find is how the Vietnam Memorial hurts instead of heals. This is one of their stories.
Of all the veterans I have ministered to in outreach work, SOHARD2HATE@AOL.COM has broken my heart the most. He's a good man and proved it in so many ways during his life. When I emailed him to let him know why I wouldn't be responding as swiftly as I normally did to him, he started to minister to me, knowing I was in pain. This veteran, so filled with his own pain, watching his life fall apart, unable to get to the care he desperately needs, put himself aside for my sake.
To keep his privacy, I'll call him George after St. George the Patron Saint of soldiers. St. George is always depicted in art as the warrior with a spear killing a dragon.
George found me the way most of them do, in a moment of desperation. He emailed me, told me part of his life and waited for my response. As always, I got back to him as soon as I could. He told me how a trip to the Wall in Washington did not heal him, make him feel better or comforted, but instead awakened dormant PTSD. Up until then, he had everything he worked for, a relationship and a home.
George is not alone. There have been several cases of the wall awakening the war in a lot of veterans. For them most part, the Wall does help in healing and brining out emotions to the surface. Some are not ready for what they will begin to feel, not prepared to find out the war did not leave them when they left it behind.
George lives in a part of the county where help is hard to get to. I broke my own rule when it came to him. He couldn't get to the help he needed, so I told him I'd stay with him on line until he could get into some kind of program. Usually I get the veterans to understand what PTSD, get them past the stigma up to the point where they are ready to go for help, then send them on their way. If I didn't do this, I'd never have time to get any research done. I saw something in George that I knew was rare. He is an amazing man. I don't have permission to post much about him so I won't. The point of this post is there is a veteran with PTSD who needs help. Right now he needs legal help more than anything else. It's bad enough to have PTSD but to have the additional burden of legal matters jeopardizing what little he has left is getting too much for him to cope with.
I know there are pro-bono lawyers who help veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan but George is a Vietnam veteran. They have been pushed aside and find help very hard to find. There has to be a lawyer for him out there somewhere. He lives in Pennsylvania. His PTSD has ability to fight for himself away and he's up against a real lawyer taking advantage of his limited capacity to advocate for himself. If you know of a lawyer who may be willing to help him, email him to get some more information. Believe me, this man is very unique and I'm not just saying that because of what he did for me when I was devastated by losing my job, but because of the countless emails flying between the two of us. He was able to be open and honest with me, like so many others are because they have nothing to prove to me. George proved his compassion, his faith in God and how loving his heart is throughout every email. Don't let this veteran, this rare man fight this legal battle on his own. He needs our help. After that then we can try to find someplace to help him with PTSD to heal.
Pass this post on to anyone you know in Pennsylvania so that the help available can find him. He lives near State College, Pa. He needs legal help with a family matter, not a criminal one. He also needs help with his claim for PTSD. Help a great Vietnam veteran stand proud again.
Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Let's show Washington we can live up to what he said.
Of all the veterans I have ministered to in outreach work, SOHARD2HATE@AOL.COM has broken my heart the most. He's a good man and proved it in so many ways during his life. When I emailed him to let him know why I wouldn't be responding as swiftly as I normally did to him, he started to minister to me, knowing I was in pain. This veteran, so filled with his own pain, watching his life fall apart, unable to get to the care he desperately needs, put himself aside for my sake.
To keep his privacy, I'll call him George after St. George the Patron Saint of soldiers. St. George is always depicted in art as the warrior with a spear killing a dragon.
George found me the way most of them do, in a moment of desperation. He emailed me, told me part of his life and waited for my response. As always, I got back to him as soon as I could. He told me how a trip to the Wall in Washington did not heal him, make him feel better or comforted, but instead awakened dormant PTSD. Up until then, he had everything he worked for, a relationship and a home.
George is not alone. There have been several cases of the wall awakening the war in a lot of veterans. For them most part, the Wall does help in healing and brining out emotions to the surface. Some are not ready for what they will begin to feel, not prepared to find out the war did not leave them when they left it behind.
George lives in a part of the county where help is hard to get to. I broke my own rule when it came to him. He couldn't get to the help he needed, so I told him I'd stay with him on line until he could get into some kind of program. Usually I get the veterans to understand what PTSD, get them past the stigma up to the point where they are ready to go for help, then send them on their way. If I didn't do this, I'd never have time to get any research done. I saw something in George that I knew was rare. He is an amazing man. I don't have permission to post much about him so I won't. The point of this post is there is a veteran with PTSD who needs help. Right now he needs legal help more than anything else. It's bad enough to have PTSD but to have the additional burden of legal matters jeopardizing what little he has left is getting too much for him to cope with.
I know there are pro-bono lawyers who help veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan but George is a Vietnam veteran. They have been pushed aside and find help very hard to find. There has to be a lawyer for him out there somewhere. He lives in Pennsylvania. His PTSD has ability to fight for himself away and he's up against a real lawyer taking advantage of his limited capacity to advocate for himself. If you know of a lawyer who may be willing to help him, email him to get some more information. Believe me, this man is very unique and I'm not just saying that because of what he did for me when I was devastated by losing my job, but because of the countless emails flying between the two of us. He was able to be open and honest with me, like so many others are because they have nothing to prove to me. George proved his compassion, his faith in God and how loving his heart is throughout every email. Don't let this veteran, this rare man fight this legal battle on his own. He needs our help. After that then we can try to find someplace to help him with PTSD to heal.
Pass this post on to anyone you know in Pennsylvania so that the help available can find him. He lives near State College, Pa. He needs legal help with a family matter, not a criminal one. He also needs help with his claim for PTSD. Help a great Vietnam veteran stand proud again.
Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Let's show Washington we can live up to what he said.
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