Happy Veterans Day to any of you who have served, are serving, or are married to someone who is serving or has served our great nation. And a great big shout out to my cousin, Nick, who is currently serving in the Army. We're so happy that he's in the US now. Thank you for your service. We know what a sacrifice it truly is.
Tonight we went to a Phillips, Craig & Dean concert. (They were very good.) They had a big tribute to veterans which was so neat. It's moments like these that choke you up and make you realize how great we have it. And nothing is truly free.
I saw one of the best shows devoted to telling about the troubles veterans have when returning home from service. Lisa Ling has a show on OWN called "Our America". I was hooked when I heard about it, and now I look forward to each week. Last week (this week really) was about veterans and PTSD. Wow! I don't even know what to say about it. I bet they will show reruns on OWN at least until the next show airs (Sunday). Definitely DVR it or watch it if you get this channel.
I don't think I've been so emotional watching ANY show, let alone one about this. I just couldn't believe the sad stories. When she gave a statistic that said we've lost more soldiers from the Iraq war due to suicide after returning back home than to war injuries, I was shocked. She also visited a veterans suicide hotline. It was so sad to hear the operators talking to people (and SO MANY each day) and know these were the men and women who gave so much up to protect us. What can we do to protect them?
I can't really go into details (it's not my story to tell), but my cousin I mentioned about served overseas last year for about 6 months. This was it first and only tour of duty since being active military since about 2004. His job forced him to stay here instead of being deployed. But he did have a minor issue with PTSD when he came back. (I say minor, but it was really scary.) These men and women go through so much more than I can or will ever imagine. And I think my eyes have been opened to that even more.
Thank you to our service men and women. I will continue to pray for you! I can't thank you enough.
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1 comment:
Thank you for this post. They truly deserve our respect and help when they come home. I was shocked by the statistic you mention but it must be impossible to relate to people when they get home. I don't know how they do it. .
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