Recalculating GPS

Last year I had to take a trip into Tiffin Ohio. I wear glasses to read, which is a problem when trying to drive and read directions. I cannot see distances with the glasses on so I stretched out my arm trying to read and watch the road at the same time. It was a huge problem on this trip because I ended up lost in corn fields. Miles and miles of corn fields with no one to ask for directions. I kept looking at the directions trying to figure out where I went wrong, what turn I was supposed to take and getting really anxious. I needed to be at an important meeting on time but getting there was becoming to look more and more impossible until I decided to take a road I had not been on, ending up at a small restaurant where I received the directions to get me back on the right road.

Since I travel a lot plus end up getting lost no matter where I go, my daughter gave me a GPS for Christmas last year. We played with the voices ending up picking Daniel with a British voice. Hearing his accent pronounce streets in Florida is hilarious but Daniel never allows me to become totally lost like that trip into Ohio. The GPS goes with me on planes and traveling around in Florida providing me with the confidence I need to get to where I am supposed to be.

Daniel watches over the road I'm on from a satellite, giving me instructions ahead of time, showing me every turn on the road ahead plus an arrow to tell me where they next turn will be. Whenever I mess up, Daniel tells me he is recalculating so that I get on the right road again. No matter how badly I mess up, he always gets me to where I'm going.

Our lives are much like my driving. We may know where we are supposed to end up but taking the best way there is often met with our will, ego and inability to read the signs. We get lost. When we have no clue what God's Plan is, that makes it even harder. We may have some indication of what we were intended for, but life's challenges get in the way as well. Bad advice can have us taking a totally wrong turn. The interference of others can cause detours but God somehow manages to get us back on the right road if we listen to His directions.

God's Plan Succeeds when we follow His lead but we cannot hear His voice. We forget He's watching over us much like Daniel's screen would be totally blank if I did not charge the battery. While Daniel still knows how to get me where I'm going, it does me no good if I allow the battery to die. It is the same way with God. If we allow what connects us to God, our faith, to run dry, it is as if it was not there at all. We're totally lost, alone and confused.

With some luck we may end up with directions from someone but we can never really be sure they are putting us on the right road or not. How could we be when we are no longer sure of where we are supposed to go?

When we are living out our days, we are traveling on a path that will affect our future. Each day we take what came before and we use the knowledge of successes and failures hoping we learn from both. Sometimes our past includes traumatic events and sometimes those events end up getting us on the wrong path, causing us to stop dead in our tracks or totally turning us around so that we never really get to where we are supposed to go.

Civilians will experience at least one traumatic event in their lives. The death of someone they love is always traumatic but especially traumatic when it is from an accident, fire, natural disaster or crime. Some of us will be involved with traumatic events in our own lives or we may witness them. These events leave all of us changed.

Some of us enter into law enforcement or emergency services like the fire department. They will experience more trauma than the average citizen as they fulfill their duties. They are changed with each one.

Some of us enter into the military and in times of war, the traumatic experiences occur more often than most individuals are prepared to recover from easily. When the person is a compassionate individual, those events end up cutting into them. Some end up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an anxiety disorder, caused by events and not by the person. PTSD can only come after trauma. The word "trauma" is Greek for "wound" leaving this a very telling term to use. It literally means "after trauma" fully explaining why people change after events out of their control.

This is where a GPS would come in very handy. There would be a calm voice while we are afraid telling us where to go for help. That the wrong choices we made in our lives were due to detours others put before us and there was a way to no longer be lost because we were being watched over. We were not traveling on this road by ourselves and had someone showing us the way.

We actually have all we need to recover but most of us have let that connection die. Everything we need to heal in within us and around us but it takes plugging into the sources and recharging the power.

We need to connect to the knowledge of what PTSD is accumulated over the last 30 years. We need to connect to the faith that we had so that we can heal the wound within our minds and reclaim our hope.

It is all there. We have a GPS showing the way to healing so that we can get back to where we are supposed to go.

Hero After War

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009

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What can happen when you heal is that you help others heal by watching over them and making them feel sure they are not alone.

PTSD:Veterans' step wives

Step one=avoid
Avoid any acknowledgement there is something out of the ordinary you are face to face with. "What you don't know won't hurt you" becomes your attitude when you know deep inside you really should find out what is going on with someone you love.

Step two=find excuses
Military and citizen soldiers leave families with wives having to suddenly become single parents with enough to worry about. They find excuses to not even consider what your spouse is going through on a daily basis. While you face doing everything you had to do while they were home, you then have to take on what they used to do until they come back home. The burdens on your shoulders weighs you down, making you believe you have enough to worry about each day so anything else to worry about will just have to wait. You don't want to know what they can bring home with them buried inside of them. Besides all that, they never want to tell you what's going on anyway.

Step three=ignore
Ignore them being a "changed" person when they return home. Tell yourself they will "get over it" and then go back to normal. Ignore the fact they are drinking more than normal for them, smoking a lot more, sleeping a lot less, laughing less while being angry more and how they are avoiding all the people in their lives they are supposed to love.

Step four=blame
Blame them for acting the way they do. Blame yourself for the way they are treating you. Blame anything and anyone for what is happening between you and your spouse, but above all, find excuses to not look past anything really obvious. Whenever anyone uses the term PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, you tend to block your ears so that you don't hear anything you don't want to hear instead of understanding what you do not know will not only hurt you but them as well.

Step five=shame
Becoming ashamed of them because they act like they are uncaring jerks. Ashamed of them drinking too much or doing drugs. Ashamed of the financial mess you end up with as they make irrational purchasing decisions. Ashamed when they twitch and others notice it. You find excuses for why they no longer want to attend family gatherings or do anything with you or the kids. Ashamed because you believe there is no hope in saving your marriage as you think of divorce as the only option. Final step in this shame is that you believe it is your fault at the same time your ego struggles with blaming them.

Step six=hopelessness
You believe there is no reason to hope any of it will get any better.

Step seven=coming to terms
This is the final step where you come to terms with what is happening in your life as a spouse of a veteran. This is the crossroad where either you plan on ending it or plan on fighting it. Either you put yourself and your own needs first, close your eyes to the pain in their eyes or you remember what they were like before they deployed and decide to find out what you can do to help them.

No easy answers here. It depends entirely on you. Do you have the same compassion you used to have to even attempt to help them or are you so self-absorbed all you can focus on is you at this moment in your life?

Finding out what has happened inside of them is vital to healing them and your relationship. It will also determine your future.

Living with them comes down to what is in your soul and their soul. If you understand where it is all coming from, you will end up having a better life than if you simply walk away. Even if you do end up getting divorced, you can end up with peace inside of you or hatred if you never learn anything.

All of this can be avoided if you have taken the time to learn what happens to at least one of out three exposed to traumatic events, especially when they are combat veterans. The knowledge you have will end up getting them help as soon as possible because part of their issue is denial. They also avoid facing it. You need to know when they need help so that you can support them in getting it. If you know nothing, as a simple human, you will end up trying to find reasons everywhere but where it all came from, and that, that is combat itself.

A spouse will often say that they have enough to worry about when they are risking their lives. This is true however avoiding finding out what PTSD is means you are asking for trouble when they do come home. You cannot remove danger from them while they are in Iraq or Afghanistan any more than we could have removed them from danger in Kuwait, Somalia, Vietnam, Korea or any other nation during the world wars. What you can do is arm yourself to fight the enemy they end up brining home inside of them just as determined to kill them. When they come home, it's your job to defend them, fight for them and watch their backs.



When they have a nightmare, don't shake them awake or you'll end up with a bloody nose or black eye, then you may call the police because you think you've just been abused. This can be avoided if you knew that nightmare they were having took them back to dangerous times and they had no clue where they were or who you were in that moment. This is one thing you can learn among many. Knowledge can help them heal and make their lives easier or lack of it can end up harming them and you more.

It's up to you what you do. I once was a "step wife" as I learned as much as possible about what PTSD was. Then I became a veteran wife. As of last month, we've been married 25 years. We got there with love, knowledge and faith. So can you if you understand it before it's too late.

Here are three links to videos I did about them coming home. Stop avoiding being a step wife and be a veteran wife for real because no one else knows them as well as you do and they need you to pay attention.

When War Comes Home Part One

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 16, 2009

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When War Comes Home Part Two

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 16, 2009

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PTSD All About Soul

Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 16, 2009

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Michael Musto just became a hero

Michael Musto just became a hero to me because he was on MSNBC talking about the Wedding video and this latest video being great for advertising music. He said that record companies are hurting and videos drive sales of CD's. He's right.




So how does this make him a hero to me. My videos! No, my videos will never come close to hitting the kind of hits videos like this one did. Mine are geared to PTSD and veterans, providing understanding and support. I've taken over half my life and crunched down what I know into videos lasting under half an hour, most lasting under 10 minutes. I use mostly old songs to help deliver the message that hope lives on no matter how bad things seem right now.

The videos I created took a long time to put together and a small fortune to buy the CD's searching for the right song to go along with the video. Aside from the educational purposes, these videos also end up being free advertising for the group and the record company. YouTube and the record companies decided that they didn't want their music used on videos, but only on selected videos, not all of them.

This is what one of the messages looked like

Video Disabled

A copyright owner has claimed it owns some or all of the audio content in your video Hero After War With PTSD. The audio content identified in your video is I'll Stand By You by Pretenders. We regret to inform you that your video has been blocked from playback due to a music rights issue.


It didn't matter that this song was used with permission. I emailed the Pretenders and let them know about the music. I was told that Chrissie Hynde would feel honored to be able to help the veterans with this song once I explained what the video was for.

It happened with Toby Keith. I used a couple of his songs on When War Comes Home Part Two. Again, another pull from YouTube, I fought it and the release was given by the music company. It was too late. The music was muted so that people could still watch the video. By the time I received the release, I couldn't get the music to play again, so I deleted it, tried to upload it again but received a message saying the song was in violation of copyright. That's when I had enough.

Ever since I pulled my videos off YouTube, they have not been able to help as many people. They are now on Great Americans, which does not receive as much traffic. It breaks my heart that this is happening especially when I go into YouTube and find the same music I use on someone else's video, but the song is playing loud and clear.

Michael Musto is right on the mark when he said it's free advertising. People asked me about the songs I used so they could go out and buy the CD. Since, as I said, I use old songs, this drives demand for songs that had been forgotten. Most of the songs stopped getting air time years ago unless they occasionally pop up on the oldies stations. Some of the songs I used received no air time at all, buried in a CD and would not have had any publicity at all otherwise but truly touching songs.

One of the other videos I did, The Hardest Times You Could Imagine, was for women veterans. The song by Skylark was stuck in my head. I couldn't find the music anywhere, so I emailed the agent. After months of working with the agent, the group and the record company, I received the music file and support of Skylark and EMI plus the man who wrote the lyrics, Dave Richardson. He was touched by what I created with his words.
This is part of the email he wrote.

Valley Hennell has been forwarding the details of your contact with her to me, and last night I watched the "Hardest Times" video. I am honoured that the lyrics I wrote so long ago are still being used to bless others in a manner such as you describe with these women - may the Lord bless them abundantly for everything they endure in serving their country. And may He bless you as well, Chaplain Kathie, for all you do in your service to Him and to your country.......

The song, was Wildflower very popular in the 70's but hardly ever heard on the radio. Think of a song thirty years old helping women veterans heal from what was asked of them. What is really amazing about these videos is that they are touching even the newer veterans.

The artists care about our veterans and they want to give back. Each video I create, I am prepared to pull if the artist does not want their music to be used. So far that has not happened. I had to pull them because of software!

YouTube should set up a way for educational videos to not be trapped in their software searching for copyright music that does not break the rules. They not only provide support, education and help for the veterans, but they also offer artists and record companies a new way of reaching people that may have never heard the song without it. I really wish they would do this or actually either make sure that if they want to stop people from using music they do to everyone or allow them to be used at least as free publicity for the songs. People work hard putting these videos together and we don't get paid for any of the work we do. You'd think that would penetrate the record executives heads so they would be more than happy to allow all their music to be used but they never think of it that way.

Maybe with the exposure of the Wedding and Divorce videos, this will change but at what price for hurting troops, veterans and their families? No matter what I wrote in all these years, it did not have the same affect on the veterans as these videos. They are being used all over the country to help our veterans heal. Therapist are using them working with veterans for heaven's sake! Last year I received an award from the IFOC for my work. One of the videos, PTSD Not God's Judgment is being used to help police officers and firefighters heal from PTSD. Think of how many other people these videos could be helping if YouTube would stop the nonsense. Maybe they will take the advice Michael Musto just gave and give video creators a break.

New PTSD Video Turn the Page

Turn the Page of PTSD - watch more videos

Just finished a new video Turn the Page of PTSD. Vietnam veterans are still learning what came back with them. Flashbacks happen like flipping thru a photo album their mind holds. They can heal if they get help just as the newer veterans need help to heal. One message the Vietnam Vets need to hear is that it's not too late for them to turn the page and come out of the tunnel of darkness.

Can you forgive when they have PTSD?

by
Chaplain Kathie

When Jesus talking about forgiving, it was not for the sake of the person that hurt you, but for your own sake He wanted you to forgive. Sometimes it seems impossible to forgive when you've been hurt, mistreated, abused and even after you've gone through traumatic events caused by someone else. Yet when you look at this passage in the Bible, nothing could be unforgivable.

Luke 23:34


(New International Version)
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing

Jesus forgave in his last moments on the cross. He preached of how important it was to forgive. It is something we all struggle with. How do you forgive someone after they have hurt you? How do you forgive someone after they caused you pain and suffering? How do you forgive someone when they have taken all the love you had to give and appeared to have taken it for granted or thrown it all away? This is one of the hardest parts of living with and loving someone with PTSD. If we do not understand it, understand what they are going through, we are the ones carrying around a lot of pain.


"They don't know what they are doing" when they have PTSD. They have no idea how much they are hurting you emotionally. They do not do what they do or say what they say on purpose. They think differently, process what we say to them differently and most of the time, mistrust us. Paranoia has them thinking everyone is out to get them or hurt them. They can change from very caring people into ambivalent, detached emotionally from people they loved. This is part of their protection, pushing people away, trying to not feel pain from the "next shoe dropping" or the next person they care about leaving them behind, or the ultimate abandonment of death. Some believe that if they refuse to let anyone get close to them, they will avoid more pain. Some feel they don't deserve anyone caring about them. Some, will have these two thoughts blended.

They can appear to be totally selfish, out of character for them. They seem to only care about what they want, what they need and to hell with everyone else. This comes from their own sense of worthlessness, as strange as that sounds.

Filling the parts inside of them where love used to live, they spend money on extravagances when there is not enough money to pay bills. Some normally very careful and responsible with money, no longer act rationally.

The list that comes with PTSD is almost endless. What is left behind are very hurt and confused family members and friends. We get angry but beneath that anger is a lot of pain. How could they do that to me? How could they treat me so badly? What did I do to deserve their hatred? All these questions and so much more flood through us as we search for the answers. What did we do wrong? We can turn that anger combined with pain and seek revenge. We make them leave the house, file for divorce or end all contact with them. If they end up homeless, it's their fault. If they end up in jail, it's their fault. If they drink themselves to death, it's their fault. Yet if we know what PTSD is, what it is doing to them, we can understand them, forgive them and find forgiveness for ourselves.

There is a video I want you to watch. It's one of the longest ones I put together. It was also one of the first so that I could explain what PTSD is and what family members face.

When you watch it, notice your own life in it. I can guarantee you that either whatever you're going through either I have lived it as well or have had contact with someone that went through something as bad. There is a remarkable thing that happens when we know what PTSD is. We end up helping the people that caused the pain we have inside. The way we react to them changes the outcome. We either help make PTSD stronger inside of them or we help them to heal. The choice is our's to make.

Even when families have fallen apart because they didn't know what PTSD was, relationships have been rebuilt in some cases. When that does not happen, or knowledge comes too late, there is at least our own emotional healing because we can understand them and why they did what they did, said what they said and treated us the way they did. We stop asking why and stop blaming ourselves. One more thing is that we finally understand that we did the best we could with what we knew at the time. Forgiving them at the very least, takes the weight out of our own soul.

Please watch this video and find a reason to forgive them. Then you can forgive yourself.

Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD - watch more videos

Awareness key as soldiers return home

Awareness key as soldiers return home
Natchaug Hospital spreading word on mental health hurdles

By Judy Benson Published on 6/11/2009



New London - Of the 1.5 million soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, an estimated 5 to 10 percent have mild traumatic brain injury, and up to 60 percent of those also have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Navy psychiatrist Dr. Craig Martin recited those statistics Wednesday to impress on his audience the need for families, communities, mental health professionals and servicemen themselves to understand and recognize these conditions so those affected can get help.

Martin, who treats patients at a seven-month-old clinic at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton for servicemen after deployment from throughout the Northeast, included those figures in a talk on traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder to a roomful of Natchaug Hospital staff, board members and hospital supporters at the mental health hospital's 55th annual meeting Wednesday at the Coast Guard Academy. Located in Mansfield, with satellite outpatient facilities throughout the region, Natchaug provides mental health services to adults and children from throughout Eastern Connecticut.
go here for more
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=4dd04c29-c622-4c1b-bc92-7d00440a2f4a

There are over 20 videos that I've made on PTSD. There are two I would like you to watch to help you understand this. You can watch them direct from Great Americans or on the sidebar of this blog.

This is one of the first videos I made. The only difference between then and now is the numbers are a lot higher.

Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD (27:35) The wound of PTSD is not new. It has been documented since the start of recorded history under different names, but the result is the same.

PTSD I Grieve (8:39) National Guards men and women are reporting with PTSD at 50%. Most of them return to the police force or fire departments

If you want to really know about PTSD, try to find a little over half and hour to learn what it took me over 25 years to learn. I made it easy for you.

Educational movie aims to help soldiers with PTSD

Educational movie aims to help soldiers with PTSD
June 6th, 2009 @ 8:30pm
SALT LAKE COUNTY -- Some realistic scenes from Afghanistan were re-created at Camp Williams Saturday morning for a short movie being made as an educational tool.

The Utah Department of Veterans Affairs is putting together a video about the signs of post traumatic stress disorder. Many soldiers suffer from the disorder when they return home from war but few get help for it.

Often, the simplest event can trigger a response, such as a car broken down on the side of the road. A former soldier can take it as a possible ambush.

The military wants to start paying better attention to these types of issues.

The department's Darin Farr said, "A lot of guys are afraid to come forward because they don't want to be perceived as a head case or that they've got problems or issues. This is a legitimate issue they are dealing with, and they need help. It's not going to go away on its own."

The department says the video should be completed sometime next month and will be available to soldiers who want a copy.
go here for video
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6736264

Hardest Times You Could Imagine

The hardest times you could imagine should never be when female soldiers come home, but they are. After leaving their families and friends, often leaving young children behind, they deploy into combat zones with their "brothers" in arms. They risk their lives facing the enemy, trying to heal the wounded, driving dangerous roads facing IEDs and enemy attacks, but they also face being attacked in their own units.

While PTSD strikes them the same as the males they serve with, they also have to fear being attacked by the males they serve with. Summer is approaching again and that means high heat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Summers past are a greater dangerous time for women at war because they risk their health by avoiding drinking fluid in the afternoon. They don't want to have to risk going to the latrine at night out of fear.

When they report attacks, too often they are still being treated as if it was their fault instead of being treated as a victim of the ultimate betrayal.

Yet this is not the end of their suffering for having served. When they come home, instead of being treated like a wounded warrior, they face denied claims and injustice. Again, they find the enemy is not just on foreign lands but right here in their own country. We have to stop the attacks and we have to stop their attackers from getting away with it. This is a crime!

We must make sure their claims are honored so their service to the nation is fully honored.

Watch the Hardest Times You Could Imagine and if you are not moved to contact your congressmen, nothing will move you to honor those who serve this nation.

Documentary on PTSD Needs Help to Reach Completion

The great thing is they are talking about it. The troops are talking on this video and it's a wonderful thing. The need is so great for all of them and the others already home, but at least, thank God, they are talking about it now. Maybe they are finally getting the message that PTSD is normal, not new, and most of all, nothing to be ashamed of at all. I am very hopeful for the first time in a very long time because of this video.

Documentary on PTSD Needs Help to Reach Completion (VIDEO)
Tim King Salem-News.com
The hour-long program could help hundreds of thousands; we are looking for Americans who care to lend a hand.


Soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne on patrol in Iraq during the summer of 2008. Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

(SALEM, Ore.) - Hundreds of thousands of American combat veterans are suffering from the effects of combat and war. The symptoms of PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, are wide ranging.

The current conflicts continue to generate PTSD in our troops, and they join the ranks of veterans of the Persian Gulf War, Lebanon, Vietnam, Korea and WWII as survivors of things that no man or woman should ever witness in a civilized world.

My goal in Iraq last summer was to gather interviews for a television documentary on PTSD. What veterans are doing while at war is part of what we will explore, and even more importantly, we will show all types of different therapies that are being used successfully by vets and people who help veterans, in their adjustment back to a peaceful society.

We are seeking a partner to help with the cost of producing this extremely important program. Significant interest has already been shown by one television organization and the number of stations and venues where it can be used to help educate people about PTSD, is nearly endless.




go here for more
Documentary on PTSD Needs Help to Reach Completion (VIDEO)

Nam Guardian Angel's PTSD Shield up and running

If you've been looking for my videos about PTSD on Google or YouTube, they've all been moved to my site. You can still watch them, copy them onto your site. If you want to have a DVD of these videos, just email me. I do ask for a donation to cover the cost but if you can't afford to donate, let me know. As always, you can share them and play them for your groups, copy them and do whatever you feel will help the most people.

NamGuardianAngel.com

Coming out of the Dark
Hero After War
Homeless Veterans Day
IFOC Chaplain Army of Love
I Grieve
Nam Nights of PTSD Still
PTSD After Trauma
PTSD Final Battle of War
PTSD It's about Soul
PTSD Not God's Judgment
The Voice Women at War
Vet Outreach
Veterans Day Memories of Vietnam
When War Comes Home Part One
When War Comes Home Part Two
Women at War
Wounded and Waiting
Wounded Minds of PTSD

Tough Talk when they have PTSD from Generals

Tough Talk when they have PTSD
by Chaplain Kathie

When commanding officers are willing to say they have PTSD because of their service, it sets and example for all others to follow.
General Carter Ham, Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo and Maj. Gen. David Blackledge just made it impossible for other commanders to ignore PTSD. As you read Their stories think of all the others coming forward and know we all owe them a debt of gratitude.

General Carter Ham

PTSD:General's story highlights combat stress
Gen. Carter Ham, to call him a hero would be putting it mildly. He's a hero to the troops not just because he's a high ranking officer, but because he is willing to speak out on having PTSD. That is a kind of courage very few in his position are willing to do.When men like my husband came home from Vietnam, they knew something had changed inside of them but they didn't know what it was. They suffered in silence just as generations before them suffered. When PTSD was first used in 1976 with a study commissioned by the DAV, news was slowly reaching the veterans. While they fought to have it recognized as wound caused by their service, it was very difficult to talk about. The perception that there was something wrong with them kept too many from even seeking help to heal.

General's story puts focus on stress stemming from combatBy Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
Gen. Carter Ham was among the best of the best, tough, smart and strong, an elite soldier in a battle-hardened Army. At the Pentagon, his star was rising.
In Iraq, he was in command in the north during the early part of the war, when the insurgency became more aggressive. Shortly before he was to return home, on Dec. 21, 2004, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mess hall at a U.S. military base near Mosul and killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops. Ham arrived at the scene 20 minutes later to find the devastation.
When Ham returned from Mosul to Fort Lewis, Wash., in February 2005, something in the affable officer was missing. Loud noises startled him. Sleep didn't come easily.
"When he came back, all of him didn't come back. Pieces of him the way he used to be were perhaps left back there," says his wife, Christi. "I didn't get the whole guy I'd sent away."
Today, Ham, 56, is one of only 12 four-star generals in the Army. He commands all U.S. soldiers in Europe. The stress of his combat service could have derailed his career, but Ham says he realized that he needed help transitioning from life on the battlefields of Iraq to the halls of power at the Pentagon. So he sought screening for post-traumatic stress and got counseling from a chaplain. That helped him "get realigned," he says.
"You need somebody to assure you that it's not abnormal," Ham says. "It's not abnormal to have difficulty sleeping. It's not abnormal to be jumpy at loud sounds. It's not abnormal to find yourself with mood swings at seemingly trivial matters. More than anything else, just to be able to say that out loud."
The willingness of Ham, one of the military's top officers, to speak candidly with USA TODAY for the first time about post-traumatic stress represents a tectonic shift for a military system in which seeking such help has long been seen as a sign of weakness.

Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo

PTSD News: Another Army General Fights Stigma by Announcing He Sought PTSD RecoveryPamela Walck
Savannah Morning News (Georgia)
Dec 21, 2008
December 21, 2008, Fort Stewart, Georgia - War changes a person. It's a truth Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo knows all too well from his 29 years of service - and counting - in the U.S. Army.
And it's a truth he tries to share with each new man and woman arriving at Fort Stewart to serve in the 3rd Infantry Division he guides.
"Command Sgt. Maj. Jesse Andrews and I try to speak to each newcomers' group," said the commanding general of the 3rd ID. "We get all ranks - from private to colonel - and in part, we try to impress upon them ... it is a point of moral courage to step forward and say you need help."
Cucolo then points to a few examples of soldiers he knows who recognized the classic signs of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in their own behavior - then sought help for it.
"I applaud that behavior," Cucolo said Friday, moments after participating in a groundbreaking at Winn Army Hospital for a new PTSD and TBI clinic.
Cucolo said he then tells his soldiers they are looking at an officer who sought counseling and got help.
"A lot of people think it is a career-ender," Cucolo said in an exclusive interview.
But he's living proof to the contrary.
Cucolo took command of the 3rd ID in July, after serving a two-year tour at the Pentagon as the Army's chief of public affairs.
During a career that spans nearly three decades, he has served 16 of those years in infantry and armor divisions.
"Soldiers return (from war) a slightly different person," Cucolo said. "It's understood ... we all deal with it different."
The general contends that details over when, why or where he personally sought help are not important.
The fact that he sought help, however, is.
click link above for more

Maj. Gen. David Blackledge

PTSD News: After Two Iraq War Deployments, Army Major General Steps Forward, Breaks Culture of Silence on Mental HealthPauline Jelinek
Associated Press
Nov 08, 2008
November 8, 2008, Washington, DC (AP) " It takes a brave soldier to do what Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge did in Iraq."
It takes as much bravery to do what he did when he got home.
Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now he is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and treatment.
"It's part of our profession ... nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area," Blackledge said of mental health problems among troops returning from America's two wars.
"I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now," said Blackledge, who came home with post-traumatic stress. "We need to be able to talk about it."
As the nation marks another Veterans Day, thousands of troops are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with anxiety, depression and other emotional problems.
Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.7 million who've served in the wars are estimated to have symptoms. In a sign of how tough it may be to change attitudes, roughly half of those who need help aren't seeking it, studies have found.
click link above for more

Do you think they have anything to feel ashamed of? Think of where they are and the position they have. Do you still think you have any kind of a reason to stay suffering in silence? Ran out of excuses yet? I bet you just did.

PTSD and John 3:16

By Chaplain Kathie
from web site http://www.namguardianangel.com/
As we enter into the Christmas season, while we begin our shopping for family and friends, it is too often forgotten what this time of year actually means. It's not about long lines at the mall or holiday parties. It's not about sending Christmas cards to people you don't think about the rest of the year. This is what it's all about.

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

It's about love. Why is it that we can remember people we love outside of our own family during Christmas but we can't seem to think of them the rest of the year? Donations to charities go up this time of year. We dig into our pockets when we hear the bell of the Salvation Army ringer sitting by the red kettle, often too embarrassed to simply pass by. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we see the advertising in our local papers to donate to the paper's Christmas fund for the less fortunate. We think about the kids who have very little during the year and we want to make sure they have something for Christmas morning. Come New Year's Day, all that sense of compassion and random acts of kindness get replaced with our own needs and wants.


For some, it never goes away. In my case, hanging onto it was not a noble undertaking. As a matter of fact, it was selfish. Because we suffered so much during the years of our marriage with PTSD eating it alive, I grew more determined to not let "it" win. I'm stubborn. My father said it was the Scottish blood in my veins and my mother said it was the Greek nothing is impossible attitude. Having that combination must have made me unable to surrender. I will not surrender to PTSD. I'm going to fight it until my last breath. Not just for my family but fall all families. "It" wins if we forget, stay silent and ignore what needs to be done to defeat it. While love alone cannot conquer this enemy of all we hold sacred as humans, it must be fortified with it.

Picture PTSD as Satan's foot. When men and women come back from combat, they come back with the events they endured ingrained within them. Some change is very small ways but it all came home with them. For others, their character, all that made them who they were inside, is being infected by trauma. For the families and friends loving them becomes very difficult when they are no longer the same person. That's Satan's foot. It causes sense of self to get in the way when they act differently. If we take a leap of faith, understanding that there is a reason for the change, then we explore it until we can understand it. Understanding what PTSD is, why the person we thought we knew could seem more like a stranger, we kick Satan's foot out of the way and begin to help the veteran of combat heal.


Our eyes are as open as our hearts are willing to allow. Instead of thinking they want to hurt us, we see how much they are hurting inside of themselves. Instead of thinking they are selfish, we understand that deep inside of themselves, they regret the fact they came home when others died. Instead of allowing them to believe God judged them and condemned them by supporting that thought with the way we treat them, we can instead show love, compassion and forgiveness. They are able to see God's love thru our actions and thru the eyes of love.


Love is not supposed to be temporary or seasonal. It is not supposed to end when our feelings are hurt or we don't get what we want. It should not be surrendered as easily as we return the gifts to the store the day after Christmas because we thought we deserved better. It is a commitment that we take all too lightly.


Think of it this way. How much time do you spend looking thru sales flyers to make sure you get the best deal for what you want? How much time do you spend going thru the newspapers looking for coupons to save? Have you spent nearly as much time in learning about PTSD when you have someone serving in your own family? Are you afraid to do it? Do you think that you have enough to worry about and don't want to even think they could have PTSD? Well, I have news for you. If you think you've got enough to worry about and they do come home with PTSD, the troubles you think you have will be minor in compassion to what PTSD can do to your family if you don't know what it is or how to fight it.


My videos above will explain what it has taken me over 25 years of constant study and living with it took to learn. There are two I want you to watch about this for a start. PTSD Not God's Judgment and PTSD I Grieve. Begin to learn in this season of love to awaken a part of your heart that has been asleep.


Let's make this Christmas a time when we change our hearts and minds to understand that love is a gift to be cherished and invested in.

"True Life: I Have PTSD” on MTV

I was sent this by email and it is an amazing thing to watch. This is what they are going through and not enough is being done to help them. When they have PTSD, the tears come because the wall that was protecting them from harm is being broken down. When you watch him break down, understand that he in the process of healing from great emotional turmoil.

Here is a clip from the episode that you can share with your readers:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0POxbds4do



And here is a description of the episode:



5pm - “True Life: I Have PTSD”- One in five veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental illness that causes depression, inability to trust, constant alertness, nightmares and fits of rage. If untreated, severe PTSD can last a lifetime and make it impossible to hold down a job, form a lasting relationship, stay sober or lead a satisfying life. Yet only half of veterans with symptoms seek treatment. In this episode of MTV’s “True Life,” viewers will see what it’s really like to live with PTSD through three young veterans who are struggling to get their lives back on track.

The Think Community at think.mtv.com will help educate and connect viewers with content and provide them with the necessary help with issues featured in the "True Life: I Have PTSD” episode. Viewers will also be able to comment on the show and the issues on think.mtv.com.

My new PTSD web site is almost done

http://www.namguardianangel.com/ is just about finished. The videos are up and running. It still needs a bit more work and more features are being added.



There are only a couple more videos to put up.

Features will have PowerPoints on two often requested videos, Wounded Minds and Death Because They Served. Both of these videos are long and the tiles contain important information for people doing presentations. Soon Wounded Minds will have translated tiles into Spanish for Power Point. A doctor in Argentina requested the tiles so that he can translate them and he'll be sending the Spanish version.

My book will also be available on the site, as well as on this blog.

There is a forum ready to go, but bear with me on that one because I'm still not too sure how it works.

I've done this because of YouTube and Google videos. The main reason is that the troops cannot access either one of them and they are missing the information in these videos. Plus considering how many videos there are on both sites, mine, well, let's just say they get buried. People are shocked once they finally find them and wish they found them a couple of years ago when I first started to do them.

There are two videos for female soldiers and veterans. Women At War and The Voice, Women At War.

There are two videos on the other causes of trauma as well for civilians because they also end up wounded by abnormal events. Those are PTSD After Trauma and IFOC Chaplain Army of Love.

There is a video for the citizen soldiers, the National Guards and Reservist, who end up coming back and going back to work for the police and fire departments across this country as well as back to regular jobs.

There are several videos for the Vietnam Veterans because they have been tugging at my heart since 1982. Naturally there are videos for the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two videos are for the family members who need to know what PTSD is and when the veteran needs more help than just love can give. Learn the signs and you'll be able to help them heal.

There is also a special video, PTSD Not God's Judgment. This video was created because of what veterans have found very hard to come to terms with. They want to know if God can forgive them. Yes, there is really no reason for them to feel that way, but when you consider what they go thru it's not that hard to understand. This video was also made after a very long argument I had with God. I get the ideas for the videos, find the music and the pictures to go with the message I feel is important. This one, kept nagging at me. I kept finding reasons to not do it. Reluctantly I put it together, put it up on YouTube and let the Good Lord take over from there. He did. When I was at the IFOC conference in Ohio, I found out that it has been used to help police officers and firefighters to heal by therapists. Amazing! I did not intend it to be used with them, but evidently God had other plans.

The work I do on this blog will still go on and trying to find out the best way to incorporate it with the new site, but Wounded Times is not going anywhere.

So, until the DOD blocks my site from being viewed by the troops, let them know the videos are there and more will be added. Tell the families and friends so they can understand what PTSD is as well. One more thing. Consider how many we're talking about. RAND Corp put the number at 300,000, but with all I know about PTSD after all these years, they are not even close. By 1978 there were already 500,000 Vietnam Veterans with PTSD. We have over 7 million people in the USA with PTSD from other causes. Too many suffer because they don't know what it is. Help me to help them. Spread the word about the videos if you can.

You won't be able to download them from the site but you can download them from Google and YouTube for now. If you need a DVD copy of one email me and I'll burn you one for a small donation.

Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.com

www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"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

Shaking your dust off my feet

LUKE 9:5-6

5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

I've been doing outreach work with Veterans since 1982, long before some of my readers were born. In 2000, my book, For The Love Of Jack, was finished and in 2001, I tried to find a publisher. This was long before all the press coverage of PTSD. No one was really interested in what Vietnam veterans were going thru, almost as if they had nothing to learn. When September 11, 2001 came, I knew there would be a lot more veterans suffering from PTSD, who up until that point, coped with it. 9-11 brought a "secondary stressor" far too few psychologists address. I gave up trying to find a publisher, realizing the urgency of providing the information in my book, I decided to self-publish. I received very little help but if you look online there are a lot of links to this book still up. The book is online for free from this blog on the side bar. It opens in Adobe.

Think about how much this book could have helped families back then, before the media finally decided that it was an important story. 18 years of our life are that book covering how my husband's PTSD was mild when we met, but the secondary stressor sent him over the edge. A secondary stressor is like giving un-addressed PTSD a shot of steroid. It happens that quickly. It also contained 18 years of researching what I had learned. Most of the studies they are doing right now, have already been done. What if the researchers had bothered to check with the families already living with it, coping with it and used their experiences to help the new generation? Think of how many lost years could have been spent on new research.

I am not a powerful person. I am not a rich person. I am just like every other average American trying to make a difference to a lot of hurting people. While I know a lot of powerful people, very few of them had faith in me, my knowledge or my experience. I asked them to help me help the veterans and their families. While they said they would, they never did.

I was asked to become certified with the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists years ago but I said I wanted to stay right by the side of veterans and their families as one of them. In my mind there were enough professionals at the time but the veterans needed someone to show them the way on a equal level. I knew I would be able to charge people for what I did had I opted to become certified, but that was not what the veterans needed. So I worked a regular job and did the outreach work in my spare time.

As the numbers of veterans were growing and too little was being done, no one with the power to address it was listening to people like me. Letters to Senators and Congressmen were responded to with a form letter telling me they cared about the issue but they did nothing. I was never asked to speak to them, inform them or offer all those years of experience with my own husband and hundreds of veterans at that point. I was screaming about the growing need, but no one heard me.

In 2006 I came up with the idea to reach veterans the way the new veterans where they were, on Google and YouTube. I started doing videos on PTSD, combining music, pictures and a message, so they would not have to read too much but get the point that PTSD is a wound, is a normal reaction to abnormal events and that there was hope in healing if they reached out for help.

Over twenty videos later, thousands of hits on videos covering all forms of trauma, videos for Vietnam veterans, veterans families, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, along with others living with the aftermath of trauma, still these powerful people will not listen. I've traveled with these videos but considering the need out there to share information with the veterans and their families who still don't know what PTSD is, especially the National Guards and Reservists, I've been turned down on doing presentations. People will watch the videos, come up to me and ask me if I would be interested in doing another presentation and when I agree, I never hear from them again. Churches have turned down my offer to help their congregations understand what PTSD is so they can help the veterans and their families.

What I do, which is taking up 16 hours a day, I do for free. I ask for donations but the people who can afford to donate, use my work without feeling any need to donate, yet the people who have very little money will donate what they can. With this, there is no money to spend on advertising my work. I have to trust word of mouth to spread the videos and the kindness of strangers who value it enough to pass it on. I deeply appreciate everyone who has taken the time to help me with this work.

For a long time, I could not understand why the people with the power to help me wouldn't. I've never been wrong because I pay attention to all of this as if my life depended on it, simply because it does. All the warnings I tried to give have been proven to have come true yet leaders of many different groups would not provide me with the time of day to share the information before it all came to pass when something could have been done to prevent the suffering of thousands and their families.

Now I think I finally figured it out. It's not that I don't know what I'm talking about or have trouble articulating any of it. It's not that any of the information is wrong, because it's all supported with research and links. It's because they are blind to it all. The VA only sees what they are shown. They are dedicated people but they will not spend this kind of time researching any of this. They do not talk to people across the country and the world. They only talk to the people who come to them or read whatever the VA puts out. The service organizations also know they have a problem but they are reluctant to act to address it and when it is presented to them, they take offense as if they are being attacked. I've had many arguments with them over the years and when I do, I tell them that what I do would not do anyone any good unless they were there to treat, diagnose and assist the veterans with their claims. I need them where they are but I also need them to open their eyes and know what is coming and what they can do to get ahead of it for a change.

I know that if I happened to be a Republican, I would have all the support in the world. This is not a baseless claim. I've seen it when someone will watch one of my videos, call me a hero online one day and then slam me the next when they find out I'm not one of them. I've tried to help out on message boards and get involved with some of the military groups online, but have been turned down.

None of my PTSD videos are political but politics constantly plays into this. I help all veterans no matter what political party they happen to be in because they have my heart and tug at my soul. I fully support them because they are willing to risk their lives for the sake of this nation and it's not up to them where they go. They all need help and to avoid someone who happens to be a Democrat who can help them with this devastating wound is an injury to them. It would be one thing if they disagreed with my political view but supported my work but they will not even bother to notice that when I address PTSD, there is nothing political involved because PTSD does not care what political party they happen to be in.

When I come out and slam a politician it is not because of their political party, but it's because there is an assumption only Republicans support veterans, when their voting records prove that to be a false assumption. I slam John McCain because he claims he supports veterans but his record proves he does not whenever he's had the chance to prove it. He made the claim that he doesn't need lessons on what veterans need because he is such a supporter of them. This claim was allowed to just stand when he has an abysmal record on proving it.

What the Republicans do not see is that I will slam anyone who does not do the right thing for veterans, just as I did when Bill Clinton was president and would not address the backlog of claims or the issue that congress passed a stupid law that allowed the VA to collect for "non-service connected" treatments never once considering that any claim not approved was tagged as "non-service connected" even if the veteran had lost a leg to a bomb. No approved claim meant they would have to pay until a claim was approved. The ramifications of this rule had such far reaching affects that veterans have been suffering not just financially but feeling betrayed by the very same country they were wounded while serving.

As I said, I know a lot of powerful people who will not give me the time of day when it comes to this. They look at me as if I am not worthy of their help to help veterans, as ironic as that sounds. So now I'm shaking the dust off my feet when it comes to all of them. I'm done trying to get them to put politics aside and focus on what the veterans need and what can be done. I'm tired of acting as if they are more important than I am in this just because they have received the support to get them into the positions they are in. When people put politics first someone suffers. The veterans have been suffering needlessly because of this.

I will still go where I'm asked to go, but I'm done trying to be invited. I will no longer send updates on videos that I do to help to organizations who have failed to share them. I will no longer contact anyone or support any organization that cannot put the needs of the veterans above what political party I happen to belong to. I will no longer put up with being viewed as someone who is less patriotic or of lesser value than they are.

Above all I am done being hurt by people who question my faith because I take the words of Christ so seriously that I cannot take the easy road agreeing with people who are not following His word and treating people the way He said they should be treated. I am so serious about being a Christian that I was the head of Christian Education for a church for two years and became a Chaplain so that I could be of service the way Christ was. He helped all people no matter what faith they belonged to. Chaplains are not supposed to be about evangelizing. That is the job of the clergy and it's high time the evangelizing got out of the military and they returned to taking care of the spiritual needs of all no matter what faith they hold or if they hold no faith at all.

This also gets me slammed by the far right as well as other Christians who cannot understand that if one branch of the Christian faith is allowed to evangelize, that leaves them out. Do they ever stop to consider how many branches there are of Christianity? Do they notice that all Christians do not hold the same doctrine? If they noticed these glaring facts, they would have a problem with evangelizing in the military as well. It's also another reason why I'm asked to help a certain group one day and the next ignored.

I know this was a long rant but it's taken me a lot of years of frustration to reach this point. After 26 years doing this, you'd think that I would have had a lot more support than I do and I'm tired of fighting them wasting time I could have been just fighting for veterans.

NOTE: You know who this is addressed to and you have only yourself to blame. You would not help me to get the information I have to the veterans needing it, so all the veterans who contacted me when they are suicidal, remember there are many more who never found my work in time.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

New PTSD Video, It's All About Soul

I just did a new video on PTSD, "PTSD It's All About Soul" for the wives of veterans. When the Vietnam veterans came home, we didn't know much about PTSD. Later on, after divorces and damage was already done to the family life, we knew what we had on our hands. Too many years were lost, too many tears shed and too many hard feelings before we fully understood.

The wives of Afghanistan veterans and Iraq veterans have a lot more information and support than we did but there are still too many who do not understand what PTSD is and what they can do to help.

When they are in combat, it's their battle but when they come home, it becomes our battle to fight for them. They need us to see what they can no longer see. Understanding provides the tools to help us cope but it also provides us with enough insight to know when the problem is greater than we can deal with.

Sometimes they come home and just need time but too often, they need help to heal. PTSD traps their soul behind a wall of pain but the man is still there inside. He just needs help to find himself again.

There is a lot of hope to keep your marriage together. Find the support you need to cope with it as well and heal your marriage the way older wives have. I've been married 24 years now and yes, even with PTSD.

The video is on the side bar under My Videos. Feel free to share it as usual.

PTSD:Final battle of war, it's time for us to fight for them

Speaking out on PTSD
PTSD is a wound. No one would be ashamed of a bullet wound. Why be ashamed of this wound? End the silence and break the stigma. More than you know suffer from this wound. Trauma is Greek for wound.


PTSD Final battle of war 05:01

Music from Ken Burns, The War
Norah Jones American Anthem Lyrics

All we've been given
By those who came before
The dream of a nation
Where freedom would endure
The work and prayers
Of centuries
Have brought us to this day

What shall be our legacy?
What will our children say?
Let them say of me
I was one who believed
In sharing the blessings
I received
Let me know in my heart
When my days are through
America
America
I gave my best to you

Each generation from the plains
To distant shore with the gifts
What they were given
Were determined
To leave more
Valiant battles fought together
acts of conscience fought alone
these are the seeds
From which America has grown

Let them say of me
I was one who believed
In sharing the blessings
I received
Let me know in my heart
When my days are through
America
America
I gave my best to you

For those who think
They have nothing to share
Who fear in their hearts
There is no hero there
Know each quiet act
Of dignity is
That which fortifies
The soul of a nation
That never dies

Let them say of me
I was one who believed
In sharing the blessings
I received
Let me know in my heart
When my days are through
America
America
I gave my best to you
http://www.metrolyrics.com/american-anthem-lyrics-norah-jones.html

When they come home from war, their battle is not longer fought with guns but fought with their life. Some will come home with the memories, move on and live out the rest of their lives whole. Others will come home with haunted by all of it. Of friends they lost, horrific images replaying as the wound of PTSD cuts deeper with each passing year. Survivors guilt leaves them wondering why they were spared when others were not. They wonder what they could have done to save the life of a "buddy" or why their buddy surrendered his life for their sake. So many questions go unanswered. This wound of war is not new. It has been documented in every century that man has fought against others. It knows no national boundary. It knows no race. It acknowledges no social standing. It only knows a human was exposed to traumatic events that are not part of normal life.

All we've been given
By those who came before
The dream of a nation
Where freedom would endure
The work and prayers
Of centuries
Have brought us to this day

When you read the letters and historical accounts of battle from the foundation of this nation, you can find the pain we now call PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Men and women who were willing to surrender their lives for a cause greater than themselves, the defense of this nation and what they believed in. In the Revolutionary War, it was about the freedom of this nation. Some wanted to remain under control of England and fought against the Patriots. Each side had people dedicated toward fighting for what they believed in.

In the Civil War it was about freeing slaves so they were no longer regarded as possessions. Those who wanted to keep things the way it was also fought for what they believed in. Each side paid the price with their lives and for the survivors, they paid with their minds.

When the "whites" spread out across the nation, they fought the native Americans in order to take the land the Indians had held since the beginning of time. Both sides again were willing to die for what they believed in, for their families and friends as well as their futures.


What comes after the traumatic event spans generations and nations, civilizations all affected by the killing of others in war.

What shall be our legacy?
What will our children say?
Let them say of me
I was one who believed
In sharing the blessings
I received
Let me know in my heart
When my days are through
America
America
I gave my best to you

We, as citizens do not expect to walk out our front door to bomb blasts or gun fire. When it happens in the worst neighborhoods of the US, there you will find many suffering from PTSD. Still we as citizens find it very hard to understand that when we send men and women into combat, we are sending them to risk their lives, their bodies and their minds. Combat is not part of normal life. No matter how well they are trained to participate in it, they are never trained to recover from it.

Each generation from the plains
To distant shore with the gifts
What they were given
Were determined
To leave more
Valiant battles fought together
acts of conscience fought alone
these are the seeds
From which America has grown

We can talk about the other causes of PTSD from crimes to natural disasters but the cuts of PTSD do not penetrate as deeply as they do for those who participate in the event itself. For police officers, the cuts are deeper than for firefighters. Firefighters are ingrained with the need to help those in danger. Inside they do not believe they would have to take a life in order to save. Firefighters develop PTSD even though they do not kill but their lives are on the line on a daily basis. Police officers have the same desire to save lives but they also have the extra requirement of the ability to take a life when necessary. Police officers develop PTSD because of what is required of them.

For those who think
They have nothing to share
Who fear in their hearts
There is no hero there
Know each quiet act
Of dignity is
That which fortifies
The soul of a nation
That never dies

When we are talking about veterans of combat, we are talking about those who have experienced traumatic events over and over and over again. It can begin to cut them with one event, then additional cuts come with other events.

It is those who are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation who do in fact give their best to this nation. They were born with the requirements and abilities to go above and beyond what average citizens are born with. Some will say that war makes them heroes but I totally disagree. These people were born that way. Had there been no necessity at all to have a military, they would have been doing something else to be of service to others.

When you read stories about veterans committing suicide or others living with PTSD, you find accounts of how they were before they joined the military. Clear signs of the character of the hero were already there. You will also find a compassionate person. Someone who cared deeply for others. This is one of the requirements for PTSD to enter. They know when they participating in combat, it is another human who is paying the price. It eats away at them. Some may come to terms with the idea they killed the enemy, others will never achieve that. Some may not be able to understand that it was not their time to die while others did. Humans do not have the ability to fully understand why some live and others die. This happens with every tragedy.

I'm sure you've seen the picture of the lone house standing in Texas on the beach after Hurricane Ike destroyed all other houses around it. No one can explain why that happened. No one can explain why some died or others lived right next to someone who died. We cannot explain why some recover from illnesses but others do not in the same exact set of circumstances. When the event occurs in combat, it is the same set of unanswerable questions.

The final battle of war is being fought by all living generations of warriors. They gave their best when it was time for them to be asked to go, just as they gave their best before the day they deployed.

America, America, I gave my best to you.

But we have not reciprocated in kind. We let them come home to a nation that was not ready to care for the wounds they would carry within them. This was no surprise. It was no "unknown" that could not have been prepared for. It has lived in the souls of every generation since the beginning of time yet we did not prepare for veterans of Vietnam any more than we prepared for the veterans of wars before. We had no excuses after Vietnam left to use.

The Vietnam veterans demanded this wound be treated and compensated for. They demanded the researchers, medical community and government put their best minds to work on finding a way to help the veterans heal this wound. They demanded it not just for themselves but for all veterans of combat.

Because of them, the others in this nation are being treated for the wound caused by trauma from mental health providers. Police departments and fire departments across the nation have begun to come to terms with this wound. Citizens are being treated after they suffer through traumatic events. All that has been accomplished this far, we owe to the Vietnam veterans who said no more will one generation abandon another. Yet there is still so much more that has to be done. This is evident when a family has to bury a veteran after they have become a civilian yet again. When the risk of their life being sacrificed for the sake of the nation is sacrificed because the nation refuses to take care of the wounded, this cannot be an acceptable loss.

We see Vietnam veterans still taking their own lives. Gulf war veterans still take their own lives. They are joined now by Afghanistan and Iraq veterans unable to find the help they need to recover and heal. Why? Why aren't we all fighting this battle along side of them?

We did not go into combat with them but we can fight this battle with them right by their side. We can do this by contacting congress. We can do this by contacting the media and telling their stories. We can do this by making sure our own communities are educated on what PTSD is and how to help these men and women who gave their best to us. We can make sure no veteran ever has to fight the government to have their wound treated. We can by contacting our religious leaders to address their spiritual needs. We can by forming support groups where they will be free to talk knowing they will not be judged by uniformed people, but by those who fully understand what PTSD is.

This is our battle for them. This is for their sake and for the sake of all generations who came before them. It's time we gave our best to them.





Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
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

My other videos

PTSD I Grieve 08:40

PTSD Not God's Judgment 06:00

Hero After War08:27

Coming Out Of The Dark Of PTSD 04:25

Wounded And Waiting Part One08:00

Wounded And Waiting Part Two07:27

When War Comes Home Part One04:33

Nam Nights Of PTSD Still08:33

A Homeless Veteran's Day04:00

Women At War08:02

The Voice Women At War09:49

Point Man Int. Ministries Is There04:41

Veterans Every Day

Wounded Minds PTSD and Veterans

Death Because They Served PTSD Suicides

When War Comes Home Part Two07:10


For others coping with PTSD

IFOC Chaplain Army Of Love07:14

PTSD After Trauma04:44

Iraq and Afghanistan PTSD veterans, CNN wants to hear from you

This comment was left on my YouTube group. It's no joke. I got off the phone with her less than a half hour ago.

acginnyc has sent you a message on YouTube:
CNN urgent request -- PTSD/veterans
Greetings, My name is Chris Gajilan. I’m a senior producer for CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I came across your channel on youtube.

We are working on a piece profiling an Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran who suffers from PTSD. I am wondering if you could help us find the appropriate person who is willing to share their story – who has benefited from your program. The report will be part of a larger CNN and MTV project. Our networks are working together towards an MTV special airing 10/24 that will become a CNN “Anderson Cooper 360” special airing the following day.

The MTV program is a 4-hour event “Fight for Veterans” that will include music acts and news pieces. The news pieces come from CNN and will focus on vet issues. Here are some of the elements we’d like to consider: --a veteran of the Iraq/Afghanistan war who suffers from PTSD.

--in their 20s or 30s
--he/she has family members who have been affected by their loved one with PTSD and are willing to be interviewed on camera.
--lives in NY city area or Atlanta
--ideally we would shoot some footage sometime next week (week of 09/15 or week of 09/22) and again on Friday 10/10 (Dr. Gupta will spend some time interviewing them).
--vet who has still photos or home video of himself/herself and family over the years.
--if possible, somebody who struggled to get PTSD care after asking for help

Thanks again,
Chris A. Chris Gajilan Senior Producer
CNN Medical News One Time Warner Center, 0403N3 New York, NY 10019
w 212.275.8058
I m 917.406.7742
I f 212.275.9549

Speaking out on PTSD
PTSD is a wound. No one would be ashamed of a bullet wound. Why be ashamed of this wound? End the silence and break the stigma. More than you know suffer from this wound. Trauma is Greek for wound.
acginnyc has made a comment on PTSD Final battle of war:
Thanks for your video NamGuardian. This msg is for any iraq/afghanistan vets who are willing to share their stories of PTSD. Im a senior producer for CNN. We are working on a piece profiling an Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran who suffers from PTSD. If you're interested in speaking to us pls msg me.



If you feel my videos helped you, then help CNN. Their goal is the same as mine. To help veterans heal. We have to get rid of the stigma and provide the help, support and knowledge to all veterans dealing with this wound and give other veterans a reason to hope they can be healed. Too many are taking their own lives as hope slips through their hands. Do you want to feel like a hero again? You are one already because you were born that way. It may have been a very long time since you last felt like one though. Coming forward and being willing to talk about what has been going on, what has helped you, will help others.

I'm keeping my promise to all of you to keep your stories and emails private and will not break that ever. It's up to you to contact CNN to talk to them. I can understand some of you won't be able to but for those who are, pray for them so they can be your voice.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
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