Category Archives: Veterans Global

A Journey Of Healing And Renewal For Returning Vets

Well over a million troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since the advent of, “Shock and Awe” in March of 2003. A recent study by the VA has indicated that approximately 30% of the returning combat veterans are experiencing post traumatic stress disorder upon returning to civilian life. Most of these are young men and women are the future of our communities and our country. If these young and some not so young, as we have seen a much larger population of career soldiers and Marines in this conflict, are not diagnosed soon after coming home they frequently turn to substance abuse and behaviors that may interrupt relationships with family, friends and superiors. The Vietnam experience witnessed vets being reviled, rejected, misunderstood, and misdiagnosed,(PTSD entered the DSM in 1980). Many of these men and women isolated themselves, rebelled and eventually drained our society of its most precious resource; their productive lives. Will history repeat itself for this new generation of veterans? This must not come to pass again

There is a sacred place here in Arizona that is duty bound to prevent and ease the pain of transition to polite society. It is called the Merritt Center in Payson, Arizona. The Veteran Program that is now in its fourth year has been the source of healing and camaraderie for combat veterans from 7 Wars. From WWll to Tekrit the Merritt Center has hosted men and women who have one thing in common; War.

Since its founding in 1987, the Merritt Center, a non-profit organization has been working with individuals seeking positive ways to move past traumas that have disrupted their lives. The Center has a virtual potpourri of offerings from Sweat Lodges to native talking circles and deep massage therapy so as to get back in touch with the body and its ways of holding pain and emotion. The professionals who volunteer their time are all highly skilled in alternative techniques that bring a sense of closure to past bodily and emotional disruptions.

By observing the needs of the new returning veterans, by way of there trained mentors who are spread across Arizona, and noting the sad history of neglect by their predecessors- the Center has chosen to offer a free program for returning veterans of war.. A series of 4 weekend retreats over the course of 5 months, separate ones for men and women bring a perspective of healing and renewal to the veteran who will most likely not find anything quite so potent inside conventional medicine and therapy.

Over these four weekends the participants are given presentations about the core nature of trauma, its signs and symptoms, and guided at all times by combat veteran mentors who are graduates to the program, many of whom have been helping their comrades for years. A few of the techniques that are learned are; trauma release exercises, body energy work, guided visualizations, drumming, journaling, and Native American talking circles that are quite popular with the vets. Concluding the program is a Sweat Lodge ceremony to purge the toxins of the mind, body and spirit. At the final session the veterans new and home families gather in harmony to celebrate their strong bond and new commitment to healthy living.

The four weekend program seeks to achieve the following goals.

* learning to recognize and release the triggers of trauma
* releasing the negative experiences of combat
* learning new skills to reduce nightmares, flashbacks, and hostile behavior
*reprogramming the mind to expect and trust safety
*creating a new “band of brothers and sisters” who will share the lessons and spread the word
to others vets returning to civilian life.

The nearby ancient Pueblo Ruins coupled with the spa, forest paths, flower garden, hammocks, meditation areas and a ton of quiet places, makes the Merritt Center one of the most unique places in all the west. I for one have been enriched beyond words with the honor to be one of the mentors for this most blessed program that is 100% FREE

For information, contact Betty Merritt at 928-474-4268 or visit the website at;”www.MERRITTCENTER. ORG”

Post Traumatic Stress a Christian View

SPIRITUALLY DEFINED

An event or series of events either induced by war, sexual trauma, physical abuse,or accident that is outside the fruit of the spirit.( Galatians 5:22-23). The experience results in a deep wounding of the heart;(Lamentations 1:20, 2:11, 3;13-18) creating the formation of an idol of thought, frequently defined as intrusive thoughts, causing change in behavior and attitudes.(Psalm 135;15-18, Psalm 115; 5-8, Galations 5;19-21). This behavior inspires a false worship creating a separation from God(Isaiah 59;1-8) which leads to a broken heart and spiritual torment.(Job 18;5-21).
The condition of PTSD has worsened and become more prevalent in recent times, as a result of both war and an increasing violent society.
I know this small divergence from the clinical approach, which I know well, may not resonate with all readers, but for the few it does. let it be. Psychology can only take one so far in the pilgrimage of awareness. A spiritual dimension is needed to bring a lasting contentment or the peace that surpasses all understanding.

A Call For Assistance/ Marine Corps League

New MC League Charter in Tucson
New MC League Charter in Tucson
The proposed Marine Corps League, Nighthawk 72 Detachment, has asked for our assistance here at the Citizen.

This newly chartered Marine Corps League is searching for 9 more Marines to join this fine group of men and women to fulfill the legal charter requirements. They just learned that transfer members are not to be counted in the roll call for a new charter. They have plenty of active and vibrant members, it is just that many are transfers. They need brand new members.

MCL is one of the finest advocacy organizations for veterans in the nation. Help us get this Charter up and going, so we can begin to further the work needed to support our men and women returning home.

For information contact Don LaVetter at 520-623-7471 “dontfg@cox.net” or
Fernando Leon Jr. 520-400-4096

The Forgotten Veterans Project

The Forgotten Veterans Project

BACKGROUND

For two generations our government has used the bravery and sacrifice of the Navajo and Hopi Code talkers in WWII as a recruiting tool to entice young member of the Navajo and Hopi to enlist in the military. Today a large percentage of Navajo and Hopi men and women are veterans or active military.

Despite the fidelity and service of these veterans, our country has failed to live up to its duty to care for those men and women who won and have maintained the nations freedom. Across the Navajo and Hopi Nations, there remains a disproportionately lower level of VA Services and Benefits. Most notably, there is no VA Hospital or Community Basic Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) on either Nation, forcing veterans to travel up to six hours in order to receive proper VA medical treatment.

Leo Chischilly, Director, Navajo Department of Veterans Affairs states that 12,837 veterans are currently registered. Many newly separated veterans are not registered, however. In July 2008 they submitted a report with the number of veterans in the Navajo Nation but the VA rejected the numbers, stating they needed to be revisited.

Earlier this year, March 2, 2009, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley an Prescott VA Hospital officials signed an agreement with the goal of the Navajo and Hopi Nation being building a VA (CBOC) clinic in Chinle. The clinic is proposed to provide many of the specialized services that veterans currently must travel hundreds of miles in order to receive. Although this is a positive step, according to a Navajo Nation Department of Veterans Affairs staffer, this agreement took 30 years to accomplish. Why does it take so many decades for our Government to even begin to meet its obligations to these veterans?

The next step is an even higher hurdle. In order to open the clinic, Congress must appropriate funding for it and recruit staffers with an awareness of cultural differences needed to be fostered and understood.

POINTS OF ACTION

1) In an attempt to raise awareness among all Arizonans, collect pledges of support for the VA Clinic (CBOC) in Chinle, AZ. Ask community members to contact their Members of Congress, in a effort to gain support for funding of the clinic and proper staffing. Ask community members to volunteer to help us to raise public awareness.

2) In an attempt to raise awareness among all Arizonans, collect and pass on health-care related stories of Navajo and Hopi veterans. These anecdotes will showcase the lack of services and long travel times involved. These anecdotes, with accompanying videos and pictures, will drive New Media opportunities to garner support and encourage volunteer sign-ups.

3) Working together with the Democratic Native American Caucus, the Arizona Democratic Veterans Caucus will present to the Arizona Democratic State Party Meeting in October 2009, a resolution asking for support of the immediate funding and proper staffing of a CBOC in Chinle Arizona.

4) The Veterans Caucus will do a follow-up phone bank to remind individuals who signed pledge sheets to call, write or email their Congressional delegation in support of immediate funding and proper staffing of a CBOC in Chinle, Arizona.

Attached to this email is a pledge sheet for each of you to get three names. Ronald Canady of Tucson has mailed me a sheet of Veterans he signed in his area. Bill Gertz, of Mesa, has turned five sheets. Ben Love has emailed me that he has 40 signatures. Please feel free to use the attachment to print out as many sheets as you need. In printing the document make sure the disclaimer at the bottom of the sheet is legible.

Please mail all completed sheets to the Arizona Democratic Party Headquarters, 2910 N. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85012, ATTN: Veterans Caucus, or scan and email the documents to me at this email address. If either one to those two options is not possible please make sure all signed pledge sheet are turned in at the Arizona Democratic Party Meeting scheduled for October.

We believe that this is a fight worth fighting and it is an issue that we can win.

I would like to thank all of you for your support and participation.

Thank you

Bob Stelling

Chairman: the Arizona Democratic Veterans Caucus

Paid for by the Arizona Democratic Veterans Caucus | 2910 N. Central Ave | Phoenix, AZ 85012

Not authorized by any Candidate or Candidate Committee

Some Not So Rosy News

Veteran Suicides on the Increase
Veteran Suicides on the Increase
It has been reported by the Department of Defense that 33 Marines have killed themselves in 2009. We have seen an increase in suicides over the past three years, and we have four months remaining. The outreach and prevention programs have never worked so hard to isolate the problems, with videos, briefings on the signs and symptoms and confidential counseling. With all this the trend has actually worsened. All suicides have been male and 27 of them were between the ages of 18-24. There is no evidence that ones Military occupational status is the contributing factor. 18 Marines were reported to have attempted suicide in July. At this pace it would be about 165 attempts for the year, the most since the invasion in 2003. Rest assured this perplexing phenomena is being addressed on a daily basis.

How Military Serivice Has Changed My Life

Members of the American Legion have many common bonds, and the Legion would like to hear from you about the nature of those common threads. A passion for community service, patriotic voices, and a bent toward caring about national security. From the trenches of France to the sands of Afghanistan we all have a common bond of having served our nation in time of need.
No one who served in the Military comes out unchanged, be it a two year hitch or a 20 year career.
The American Legion wants to know in 200 words or less how your service in the Armed Forces impacted your life. Was it the discipline,the teamwork, the mission oriented life, or simple fellowship that colored your life today.
Send you submissions to’ “myservice@legion.org” or snail mail to;
American Legion Magazine
PO Box 1055
Indianapolis,IN. 46206

We can also have some fun on this post by hearing from our readers about your Military experience. Would you want your children to serve in the Armed Forces?

Job Well Done
Job Well Done

One Veterans Take on Obama's Birth Certificate

PrideFor starters, I sure hope this adolescent poppycock does not get milked for the balance of the summer. And by adolescent, I do mean the content of the question, which will be settled soon, but the way it plays out in the media, and the cottage industry and frenzy it creates in the minds of already marginally sane ideologues.
With that as a preface, I say that if Obama is not a citizen of the USA, then we have to be gravely concerned about the skill set of the FBI, CIA, NSA, and INS, as all of these agencies are mandated to vet a United States Senator prior to their taking the Oath of Office. If he ain’t the real McCoy than he is bringing down four agencies in the process. Fat chance.
The indolence of the major media in not knowing or addressing this fact of process and protocol is a story in itself.
Media indolence, however, is abound. In the 2000 Presidential election there was story flying across America about how overseas ballots were not “postmarked,” and therefore invalid. Americans bought this poppycock too. As a one time contributor to the Stars and Stripes I can tell you with certainty that correspondence from men and women at war is not postmarked and never has been since WWl, It comes by way of the Armed Forces Postal System and is frequently not dated. No media outlet reported this simple truth and milked the story and lathered the people of this fine land for months.
If you take this country of origin issue to its extreme than George Washington’s Presidency should be annulled as we was not a citizen of the United States. He was born in a British Colony. Mitt Romney’ father was born in Mexico, John McCain in Panama, and Barry Goldwaters birth place was questioned. So what’s for breakfast?
And why in the world anyone thinks a Birth Certificate is sacrosanct is beyond reason. Have you ever been in to an OB.GYN ward when a child is born? They will write in the name of the parents you tell them to write. No one asks for ID! Doctors will pre-sign the Birth Certificate leaving the fathers name blank. And someone thinks that these un-notarized documents are some form of Divine Edict?
The newspaper announcements of a child’s birth are equally valid as they name time,and place. There are three announcements of Obama’s birth in local papers in Hawaii. I suppose those news outlets were part of some grand conspiracy that is tied into the predictions of Nostradamus! My word, lets bring back the Lacey Petersen Trial for the summer.
Get some professional genealogists on the evening news and close the case. Hard to do when you have to fill 24/ 7 cable news for Mr. Murdoch. I think I will hang with the Tucson Citizen bloggers myself. No one here is taking any “527” money.

Veterans Global

The intention of creating this category is to seek and find veterans from around the world who may be interested in a dialogue regarding the state of nation in our respective countries.
Over the years I have received emails from veterans in Italy, Greece, and Israel, yet we have never had a forum that is ongoing. This may be the chance to create something quite unique.
For instance, I have always wondered what is was like for the French after they lost so significantly in Vietnam in 1954. Those vets would be the age of our Korean Veterans. I would also like to track down some South Korean Marines; ROKS, who not only saved my fanny in the Nam but were critical to our war efforts. It would be a real energizer to connect with these men. Maybe one day Gannett will help us with this!