healing
“Storytelling also knits a community together. It records or recreates the collective history and transforms actors and listeners into community witnesses. Veterans’ stories need to be told in a way that transfers the oral weight of the event from the individual to the community.”
Edward Tick, War and the Soul, Healing Our Nation’s Veterans.
Veterans Shared Their Stories to Help Others Fight PTSD Army Veteran, Frank Lesnefsky, after considering suicide, then seeking help in therapy and beginning to talk about his trauma, found community support in Headstrong, a nonprofit whose mission is to help Vets heal wounds of war. Founder retired Marine Capt. Zack Iscol, teamed up with Brandon Stanton, creator of blog site, Humans of New York, to allow veterans to share their stories online and receive mutual support. “These folks are just as courageous as folks who do something physically daunting on the battlefield, because they are baring their wounds in order to help a broader community and save lives... Recovery is possible. But you’ve got to ask for help.”
Capt. Iscol, Headstrong
Stanton stated that Veterans seeing other Vets describe similar hardships can help them to heal. “To sit there and watch somebody be vulnerable and possibly read their story and say, ‘you know what? I’m going thru that too. But I’m not talking about it. And I need to.’” “I can own it. I can say ‘this is who I am. This is what I’ve been through,’ Lesnefsky said. “I can tell people there’s a way out. There’s a way to get better. Why not take it?”
CBS Evening News, Jim Axelrod, 9/7/2016
Almost Sunrise
“A documentary film that follows two troubled veterans of the Iraq war who decide to walk from Milwaukee to Los Angeles — 2,700 miles taking 155 days — to help them heal from the combat experiences that haunt them and threaten to destroy their most valued relationships. It depicts the emotional agony and self-destructive aftermath of moral injury and the path that begins to alleviate their psychic distress and offer hope for eventual recovery. Along the way, the two men raise awareness of the unrelenting pain of moral injury many Vets face and encourage them to seek treatment. The Vets were helped by a number of counselors and treatments, including a Native American spiritual healer and a meditative technique called power breathing. They also found communing with nature to be restorative, enabling them to again recognize beauty in the world. One fact that all agree on: The process is a lengthy one. As one Vet said, “’I knew after the walk I still had a long road of healing ahead of me,’” but with support, he now has some useful tools and shares them freely.”
War Wounds That Time Alone Can’t Heal,
Jane Brody, New York Times, 6/6/2016
Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon, an organization that gives veterans a new mission by helping communities overcome disasters and disadvantages. “The physical, mental, emotional, and social wellness of our country’s returning veterans are of national importance. As our veterans have returned home, many have experienced challenges navigating the transition back into civilian life. While there are real and difficult issues plaguing our veterans – a lack of resources and understanding around mental health, homelessness, unemployment – Team Rubicon does not see our veterans as broken...veterans are the agent of our mission, not the object. By engaging our veterans in continued service through disaster response, not only does Team Rubicon provide relief to affected communities, but many veteran volunteers begin to regain the purpose, community, and identity that is difficult to find upon leaving the armed forces.”
Mission Statement, Team Rubicon, Los Angeles. CA