Hello everybody and happy #SOT #WoundedWarriors #MilitaryMonday It's been quite awhile since I last posted, took some personal time off,.. but I'm back and hoping the New Year has been treating everyone good. I'm so excited to be back, so many new projects going on this year to share, in efforts to help and assist our troops, veterans and wounded warriors. So let's just jump right into it!
The first thing I want to share is a #fundraiser that a veteran Derek Nuets and his talented wife Naomi is promoting, it is for their album Time and Voices. an emotional and haunting journey, and album art helps fans to deepen the meaning behind that journey.
The Fundraisers goal is to reach $750.00 to cover artwork and branding for their new album. But it's crunch time,.. less than 60 hrs left to go and they still need $400.00 more to reach their goal. I am really hoping people will pitch in with this one,... I've networked with Derek for the past 6 years and he has done so much within the military community helping fellow veterans and his wife Naomi is absolute pure talent,.. just good people who always give and I'm just hopin they will be on the recieving end this time. To help please go to: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/artwork-for-upcoming-album-time-faces/x/3461897 Their future goals with this project is to extend album into movie/documentary and soundtrack.
2.) #Veterans #Event In My Hometown! - Presented by Russ Barnett Michigan Vet Fest Sat. July 19th 12pm - Sun. July 20th 10pm Motor City Eagles - 24401 5 Mile Rd. Redford, MI (South side of 5 Mile Rd., just West of Telegraph Rd. near Tim Hortons and McDonalds.)
"Two day music fest to Support Veterans! 100% of proceeds go to WWP (Wounded Warrior Project), Soldier's Angels and Veterans Haven in Wayne.
Addmission is free, however, concider a donation of $5.00 or more,.. We need to pull together and assist with funding and donations, we owe it to our veterans for all they have sacerficed,.. and more importantly they deserve the best from us,... when they need assistance. "Like" them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michigan.vetfest.
Learn more about Wounded Warriors Project : http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
Learn more about Soldier's Angels: https://www.soldiersangels.org/
Learn more about Veterans Haven (Wayne) : http://www.vetshaveninfo.org
3.) #SupportVeteransDreams - JT Hollis Veteran/Musician My buddy JT has released a new song, "Outlaws" that was composed and written by his friend Tim Weems. JT is battling it out in the Independant Music charts and need our support to get him in the top spot he belongs in. What I'm asking is if you could please take a listen to it,.. then "vote" it up in the charts! It's super easy and takes less than 60 seconds. Just go to http://www.independantmusicnetwork.com Scroll down to JT Hollis - "Outlaws" and click,... Your done,.. that's it.
http://www.reverbnation.com/passionandfire/song/19502115-outlaws-writtencomposed-by-tim
"Like" him on his Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/JT-Hollis-Fan-Page/133788946671278 "Follow" him o Twitter: https://twitter.com/JTHollis
Heads Up!!!
Camp Corral Summer Camp Registration Begins for Children of Wounded, Disabled or Fallen Military Families
Camp Corral provides free summer camp for Military children, ages 8 to 15, across the country. Since its founding, Camp Corral has grown to 20 camps in 16 states, and served over 4,000 children. Registration is now open http://www.campcorral.org.
Little Children, Big Challenges Sesame Workshop
"Welcome to Sesame Street’s press room for our newest resiliency initiative Little Children, Big Challenges. This bilingual, multimedia outreach initiative is for military, veteran, and general public families with young children, to help increase self-awareness, boost self-esteem, and help children persevere through changes. The project will debut with a new anthem, What We Are."
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/press-room/little-children-big-challenges/
Wounded Warriors Project (WWP) will launch a new initiative this spring called the Long-Term Support Trust. It will provide a dedicated funding source to ensure that those warriors with the greatest need have access to quality services in the least isolated setting possible after their family members or caregivers are no longer able to provide it.
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/?sm_guid=NTAyNzd8MTUwNzc1N3wtMXxhcm15X2luZmFudHJ5X21vbUB5YWhvby5jb218MTc3NjU5fHwwfDB8MTQ1MjYwODA1
Get Involved! Operation Gratitude’s Military Support Programs - unique care package programs, each with the goal of saying "Thank You" to our heroes: http://opgrat.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/operation-gratitudes-military-support-programs/
In Case You Missed It,...
2013 in Review: PTSD Monthly Update - January 2014
Veterans Health Administration
"In this issue we review PTSD developments and highlights from the last year. PTSD Symptoms – Update. Read our revised page on PTSD symptoms. New PTSD diagnostic criteria were released last year. Changes were made to stay consistent with what we have learned over time. Instead of three groups, symptoms are now organized into four groups. Doctors on How PTSD Treatment Can Help. View videos of clinicians who describe PTSD treatments. These clinicians join the Veterans who talk about their PTSD in About Face. Some of the most effective PTSD treatments are:
•Cognitive Processing Therapy
•Prolonged Exposure Therapy
•Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)."
http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USVHA/bulletins/a10138
Retired Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire talks about terminal effects of PTSD
USC Social Work Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families, January 2014
"On Jan. 22, retired Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire held a colloquium at the University of Southern California, where he discussed the impact post-traumatic stress disorder can have on military families. ‘Our families are now living the missions with us,’ Dallaire said. ‘When we send those members overseas and they come back with this injury, we can be causing casualties in their families.’ Related Items. Watch video of Combat & Family: Post-Traumatic Stress and the Impact on Military Families, See gallery of Dallaire's visit to USC and the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families."
http://cir.usc.edu/news/2014/01/romeo-dallaire-talks-about-terminal-effects-of-ptsd
Natural Healing: The Human-Animal Bond by Combat Stress Volume 2 Number 4 Read it online
Editor’s note: This issue is dedicated to treatment of military related trauma with animal therapy including canines, equines and other animals. There is a reference section on human animal bond and animals as therapy.
http://www.stress.org/wp-content/uploads/Newsletter/October_Combat_Stress_2013/?utm_source=October+Combat+Stress+2013&utm_campaign=October+2013+Combat+Stress&utm_medium=email
American Legion Launches TBI/PTSD Survey
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140203006300/en/American-Legion-Launches-TBIPTSD-Survey#.UvR7lbCYZaQ
New Resources!
PTSD Foundation of America hosts weekly support group meetings
"The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Foundation of America has branched out to Huntsville by hosting weekly support group meetings at the Veterans Memorial Museum on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. David DeKerlegand, who served in the U.S. Army for 21 years, is the veterans’ coordinator for Camp Hope, a 90-day program in Houston that helps assimilate combat veterans with PTSD back into society
http://www.houstonianonline.com/news/ptsd-foundation-of-america-hosts-weekly-support-group-meetings-1.2852489#.UvSIabCYZaQ
Military Spouses of Strength
http://www.milspousesofstrength.org/
At Military Spouses of Strength you will find a group of military spouses who have joined together for information, resources, support and strength! This is a safe place that can be a support system to get you through the times when you feel alone and confused. Know that you are important and valuable, use this site as a place to lean on and the resources to aid you in your journey to recovery. You are not alone, let us be there for you! We want to hear from you! MSoS has created the first of it's kind anonymous survey and we what to hear from you! This survey will help us bring your concerns about mental health and the need of more support within the military spouse community. The data will be used to determine needs of the community and where MSoS might be able to provide programming in the future. MSoS survey will only take all of 5 minutes. Please take part our survey or share with other military spouses."
VA Caregiver Support
Aging and Disability Resource Centers
Caregivers of Veterans sometimes feel overwhelmed as they look for services and supports from the community to help care for a loved-one. Often, this search involves many phone calls, office visits, and web searches that produce confusing and sometimes conflicting information. Fortunately, there is a community organization that can help simplify this process—Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs).
ADRCs can be an invaluable resource to Caregivers by providing connections to community resources. Working with your local ADRCs will widen the services and support available for Caregivers of Veterans. You can find your local ADRC through the following link: http://www.adrc-tae.acl.gov/
This weeks,... Extra's:
Tell Me Again, Why Did My Friends Die In Iraq?
Editor’s note: This article highlights the sense of despair that is felt by service members and veterans as events in Iraq unfold
http://www.businessinsider.com/iraq-war-reasons-2014-1#ixzz2pe6Fsm7b
‘Kill Me. I Can’t Live Like This' -- A Long Wars PTSD Love Story
http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2014/02/kill-me-i-cant-live-long-wars-ptsd-love-story/78083/?oref=nextgov_today_nl
"Signature wounds of war’" has become one of those phrases so embedded in the national lexicon to have almost lost its meaning, as the United States winds down the 13th year of its long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Former Army Sgt. Kayla Williams knows all too well the true meaning of those signature wounds – post–traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain Injury – as her husband, former Army Staff Sgt. Brian McGough, has struggled with the consequences of those mental wounds and a penetrating brain injury for the past decade. Williams wrote a powerful, unbelievably frank and emotionally exhausting tale of life with PTSD and TBI in her memoir, Plenty of Time When We Get Home, published this month by W.W. Norton. The book illustrates in excruciating detail how homecoming can mark for many veterans the start of new battles. McGough and Williams met in 2003 on a rock pile of an outpost in Iraq close to the Syrian border, a meeting recounted at the end of her first Iraq memoir, Love My Rifle More Than You, (Norton, 2005) and at the start of the current volume."
‘Veteran Nation’ is an award-winning, moving 30-minute documentary on the experience of how America has treated our veterans and their families from Bunker Hill to Baghdad; the challenges facing this generation; and how the American people can best serve those who served. The goal of the film is to inspire all of us to give back to those who gave their all. Veteran Nation was an official selection of the 2013 The Military Channel (a sponsor of the GI Film Festival) presented the documentary ‘Veteran Nation’ its award for the festival which best represented the mission and values of the cable-television network.
The documentary includes:
•Riveting combat film from the front lines of today’s wars
•Rare historical photographs and archival footage
•Jaw-dropping animation
•Gripping interviews with veterans and experts
http://www.servingourvets.org/screen-award-winning-documentary-in-your-community-for-free/
NEWS
VA funding of service dogs: a second look…
http://veterantraveler.com/va-to-pay-for-service-dogs/
A Troubled Marine's Final Fight
When his nation called, Marine Sergeant David Lindley answered. But when he came home hurting, his country let him down
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2164226,00.html#ixzz2sTYrboq1
Research Article - Associations Between Perceived Social Reactions to Trauma-Related Experiences With PTSD and Depression Among Veterans Seeking PTSD Treatment
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jts.21879/full
Serotonin May Perpetuate Chronic Pain
http://americannewsreport.com/nationalpainreport/serotonin-may-perpetuate-chronic-pain-8822871.html
How Phoenix ended homelessness among vets
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/23/usa-today-capital-download-phoenix-mayor-greg-stanton-veterans-homelessness/4794199/
Here’s What’s Troubling American Troops in One Chart
It's about 'combat experiences,' not length of deployment
http://swampland.time.com/2014/02/04/military-troops-iraq-afghanistan-ptsd-combat/
We Sacrifice so much but still don’t get what we deserve-US military vet on pension cuts
http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_02_04/We-sacrifice-so-much-but-still-dont-get-what-we-deserve-US-military-vet-on-pension-cuts-7867/
Military sexual assault reports jump by 50 percent
http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20131227/NEWS06/312270009/Military-sexual-assault-reports-jump-by-50-percent
Saddles For Soldiers’ Program Finds Success Treating PTSD In Veterans Through Horse Bonding
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/12/17/saddles-for-soldiers-program-aims-to-treat-ptsd-in-veterans-through-horse-bonding/
PTSD may cause families to reverse roles
http://www.ftleavenworthlamp.com/article/20140103/NEWS/140109875/1348
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