Category: Change

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A Sniper Shares His Hurts and Regrets

Today is Red Friday. We should all be wearing red to show support our active duty military.

I’ve had some amazing interviews with veterans while putting my new book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

I interviewed WW ll, Korean, Vietnam Iraq, and Afghanistan soldiers.

Some of the interviews were funny; some were sad; and some were hard to listen to.

Today I will share one interview to show you some of the fear, disappointments and anger our veterans have gone through.

Interview with a Sniper

I talked to a veteran from El Paso, Texas. He was a Sargent First Class. His duties were being a sniper.

He was asked if it was hard to shot another person. His answer was, “Not since I was helping my buddies stay alive.”

Death of His Buddies

The next question I asked him was how many of his buddies were killed. He said,”Fifteen or sixteen.” I said, “That must have been hard on you.” He said, They were my friends, what can I say.”

It is Hard on Families

He was getting irritated, so I switched to his family. I asked him if he was married. He said, “I was, but I am divorced now.” I then asked, “Can you tell me why that happened? ” He said, “The separation was to hard on both of us. She went her own way because she was so lonely.” He also said he had three children that he only sees once and a while.

There is much more to this interview, but you can see that he had a very rough time while in the military.

Many other stories like this

I have many more interviews to share. Be sure to subscribe to make sure you do not miss one. Just go to the top and click on the subscribe icon. Then all further posts will go directly to your inbox.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Transcending from the military is Often Tough

Today I am just going to talk to you. I have been sharing military news, and now I am sharing with you directly.

What is happening in your life? Do you have times that you are depressed.? Are there times you wish you could just stay in bed all day? How about your daily routine? Do you avoid projects, because you fear failure?

There is much more of course, but I think you get the picture.

When we transcend from military life to civilian life, things can be very tough. People don’t understand you. They think you are still a soldier and some fear you. Finding work is a challenge. Your training does not fit most jobs.

If you are there I hear you.

When I first go out, I got a job as a grocery clerk. Not a job you really want to brag about, but my cousin got me the job and I was grateful. It was with Pigglly Wiggly, the grocery change with a funny name.

I decided I needed to get back to college, and get a degree. I had one term at George Fox College, and even played on the college football team. I was feeling good again.

The drive from Salem, Oregon to Newberg, Oregon was about a 40 mile drive each way.

One day early in the morning I was driving to school. It was cold and slippery and there was black ice. (Ice you can’t see.) I hit a patch of the ice and I was out of control. I hit a deep ditch that had water in it. I rolled several times. When the car stopped I was just above water. I was in pain, but I crawled out to safety.

My car was totaled and I had to quit college because I couldn’t afford getting a new car and paying for college at the same time.

I felt defeated, alone, and depressed.

I finally packed my family up and moved to California. I was told that Safeway, a huge grocery chain, was looking for new people. I got there and they put me through a training school and hired me.

Long story short….. I worked for them for eight years, and advanced quickly to being the “third,” man in one of the huge stores.

I still wasn’t happy!

We had added two more children, and I was working crazy hours. I never got to be with my family much. I decided to go back to college again in a Junior college. I did really well there. Had several terms of a 4.0 GPA.

I was feeling good again. However. Safeway asked me the important question: “Are you using your college training to advance with us or are you going elsewhere.”

Being honest I said I was planning to be a teacher. BOOM! They put me in the basement, and had me marking prices on cans. They didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

I transferred to Oregon State University, and got my degree in education. I had reached my dream, and the rest is history. I spent 22 years of joy working with children.

Finally, I made it to what I really wanted to do, but I hit a lot of walls, and disappointments to get there.

That may be how you will have to struggle once you get into civilian life. Many ups a downs, but a huge reward in the end. Let me share some suggestions to help you transcend into civilian life:

  1. There is always sunshine somewhere.
  2. The path may be rough but it leads to a smooth ending.
  3. Throw out the negative thoughts, and keep the positive ones.
  4. Perseverance should be your main word for life.
  5. Take one day at a time, and make them count.
  6. Above all…never, ever, give up!

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

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Veterans Battle the Change to Civilian Life

This is not a new subject. Most veterans struggle when they first get out. It is too difficult the “blend,” into society. They are use to so much structure.

I have talked to many of them while I have writing my book, Signs of Hope for the MIlitary: In and Out of the Trenches for Life.

A common thread is that they fear the unknown. They had set schedules while serving, and then they are turned loose into the private sector.

A horrible statistic is that 22 veterans/active duty soldiers take their own lives every day. Not every month, every day!

Much of this is because a soldier comes out into to the real world, and feels he/she has to be tough. Many do not seek help because it may show they are weak.

What do we do to help them?

There is a 24/7 emergency number to call for help. Please use it if you need it. The number is (877-247-4645).

Where can they go to get help with other matters in their lives, like job searches, mental health, etc.

I am a board member for the following resource you need to check out: http://victory forveterans.org. Check out the site and find many things you may need for help.

We do everything we can to help each veteran. We put flowers on every veterans graves on Memorial Day; We go on trips around the United States to make people aware of the needs for veterans; We own a military museum in Casper, Wyoming with all the proceeds helping veterans, and much more. Check out the site.

Another place that will help, are the VA centers. They help you with cheaper prescription prices, and doctor care. There are VA facilities in every state. Look up the ones for you state.

There are many more things that be helping you. I will be sharing those with you in future posts.

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Up Date on the progress on my new book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

I am in the final stages of finishing the book. All I have left is a few more interviews with veterans. This has been my favorite part of putting this book together. I have had an interview and then went home crying. I have had interviews that got me laughing.

On my next post I will select an interview to give you a sneak peek. I will not share an interview every post. I would rather you see it in print than through this medium.

What’s Next?

I have several publishers interested. Now it is up to me to select one is best for me, and does a great publishing the book.

I’ve just started this week to investigate each company that is interested. I found one that doesn’t charge shipping to send me the books. That is huge, but I am very careful, and will keep checking every one out.

Keep in Touch

If you want to see the progress or see some interviews directly from the book, all you have to do is subscribe at the top of this page. If you do, all future posts will go directly to your inbox.

Those of you who are a veterans, or a family member of a veteran. God bless you!!

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!