Category: Interviews

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The many ways to avoid trauma, fear and Depression.

One of the hardest things for a veteran to overcome are the trials and tribulations of coming home and having to deal with their everyday lives. They fight depression.

They fought hard for our country, but the battles left them traumatized and depressed.. They couldn’t cope.

I have been doing some research, and found some ideas and thoughts to help ease the pain.

They one I love the most is being a beekeeper.

I go to have coffee every Tuesday and Thursday, and meet with twelve to thirteen other men and women. There are many stories there. Many different backgrounds. The one that was most interesting to me was that two of the men were beekeepers.

One was a veteran. He said he spends hours working the hives. By doing that it distracts him from his past worries. It has helped him defeat depression.

I got my first jar of honey the other day, and it tastes wonderful.

Another way to get away from the world is painting. Going to centers that teach you how to paint has helped many veterans. One has been working at it so long he has art shows to show off his work. He has lost his depression.

Yet another way to find peace is gardening. I know several veterans who are wonderful at gardening. One of them brings his veggies to coffee each time we meet. The tomatoes were wonderful. He also raises peppers, of many kinds; squash, beans, and much more. It makes him proud to be able to share, and have us be happy with his work. He feels so much better and has lost his depression.

Another idea I am not as familiar with is horseback riding. I read up on this and it is wonderful therapy for many veterans. They feed the horses, walk them, and ride them.

There are many other ways to “escape.” Ask your VA representative for more ways to thrive in your world.

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Update on my upcoming book. “Signs of Hope for the MIlitary: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.”

I Am almost finished. I have a publisher, and they are ready to go. I am just finishing up some interviews with veterans. This has been the most rewarding part for me in this book. There will a section all by itself with many interviews, with WWII, Korean, Afghanistan, and Iraq veterans. They are too many of those interviews where there was sharing of losing friends, getting wounded, trauma for the wars themselves.

I am going to share one interview with you to show you what type of stories you will read if you get the book.

Ira Feldman was in WII and the Korean War. He was only 18 when he went in. He did his duty during WWII and was sent home. He started a new life, only to find out they had ordered him to come back in for the Korean War.

He was being shipped to Korea when he was in a huge hanger where they were loading planes. There were two planes. As he was waiting to hear his name for boarding he spotted an old friend from WWII. They met and got caught as fast up as they could.

Then Ira had to get back with his group. He was seeing that he was going to go on the first plane and his buddy was going on the second plane. He raised his hand and the sergeant barked at him. “What do you want?” Ira said, “I have a friend that is going to be on the second plane is there a way for me to switch?

The sergeant said, “Hell no!” Get back with the group. Ira them saw what looked like the commanding officer of the whole thing. He walked over to him and asked the same question, The Captain screamed at him, to leave him alone. Ira was persistent. The Captain finally yelled, “Go to the second plane and quite whining.”

Ira and his friend got on the second plane. They were very happy. The two planes took off and landed about half way for a refill. They took off from that spot and then the horrific news came over the speaker in his plane. “The first plane has crashed, and there is no one alive!”

I will leave you up in the air here. The complete interview will be in the book.

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If you are struggling and need help, please get that help. Here is one way to start getting some help.

(877-247-4645) Is available 24/7.

God bless you for your service!!

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never ever give up.!

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February Was Black History Month

I am back with more interviews from people who have served. I will be sharing from time to time interviews with veterans who have been in the trenches.

First, I want to share to statistics about African-American veterans who have served our country in the military.

There are 2.1 million black veterans nationwide.

There are 30.2 percent of active-duty enlisted women who are African-American

17.1 percent of active duty men are African American.

20,000+Black Marine recruits who received training at Montford Point camp in North Carolina during WWII.

21 who have received the Medal of Honor during the vietnam war.

7,243 who died in the Vietnam war.

3075 who died in the Korean war.

901,896 who served during WWII

24 percent all the military sent to fight in the Persian Gulf war.

350,000 who service in WWi.

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More from the book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.”

I have many other interviews done, and many more to get to yet. One interview came quite by accident.

I decided to stop by a fast food hamburger restaurant. I walked in, got my meal and was walking to my seat when I noticed a Vietnam Veteran eating at a table. I could tell he was in Vietnam by the hat he had on.

I sat down, and continued looking at him. He looked in pain. He had a sad look on his face. He got up to throw away his left overs in the garbage. He struggled to get up. He walked with a heavy limp.

I decided to ask him to sit with me and talk. He looked like he didn’t want to have anything to do with the. Then I told him I was a veteran as well. He then decided to sit.

We had idle chat for a few minutes and then I started asking him about his military life.

I asked him where he served, and he said he was a Marine on a ship off the coast of Vietnam. It was a helicopter offshore base, and their mission was to take supplies into the troops, bring wounded troops out, and even sent supplies to the villages that were starving.

I then asked him what was the worst moment he had in the military, and he said one day his best friend was taking off in a helicopter with a co-pilot, and the engine died and the helicopter dropped into the ocean. It sunk fast and his friend was dead. He said they never even attempted to retrieve the bodies because the water was too deep. He was fighting tears at that time.

He went on to say his second worst moments is when he got of the plane coming home, and the people spit on him and called him a murderer as he walked through the terminal.

That was the end of the interview because he just couldn’t talk anymore. We shook hands and I thanked him for his service. I watched him out the window as he hobbled to the hotel by the restaurant.

This is just one of many stories that will be in the book.

You can keep up on what is going on with the book, by clicking on the subscribe icon at the top of the page. When you do that , you will get all posts sent directly to you inbox.

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Stories From Our veterans Who Have Been there

I am back with some more interviews with veterans for my book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.”

I would like to share some current military news first. I will call this Facing the Tasks of Life. It will have stories from all over the world where our veterans are, and some stories from those who are now transitioned into civilian life. Hope it is interesting to you.

  1. A Iraq Veteran is now an astronaut for NASA. Lt. Colonel Anne McClain, blasted off from Kazakhstan December 3rd for a six month stay at a space station. She is only 39. She was a helicopter pilot in Iraq.
  2. Thank a Vietnam veteran on March 29th. It is Vietnam Veteran’s Day.
  3. A new law signed by Congress will “create jobs,” for veteran owned businesses. It will allow veteran owners to have access to military equipment that the military has no more use for.
  4. Senators question the VA on unused suicide prevention funds. Congress OKed 6.2 billion dollars to the military and yet only $57,000 of it has been used for suicide prevention. (What’s wrong with this picture!!)

Now I will share one interview I have done recently for the book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” This is only excerpts from the interview. You will have to buy the book to get “the rest of the story.”

I was able to talk to a vietnam veteran a while back. It was very hard to get him to answer anything about his actual combat. I did find out he has a purple heart, because of a serious injury. He is battling PTSD, and battled alcohol addiction for several years after he got out. He however said he would like to tell a uplifting story about his time there.

His group of men had settled down in the jungle to make camp. It turned out they stayed there for a long time. One day my soldier was sitting with a buddy and he looked up into the trees. There were monkeys everywhere. He told his buddy that he wanted one of those monkeys as a pet. His buddy said “No sweat!” He got a coconut and cut a hole in it. He cleaned it out and put a quarter in it. He tied a rope to it and put it out in a clearing.

Soon several monkeys came up to it because of curiosity. One reach in to get the quarter he tried to pull he hand out and couldn’t The buddy slowly pulled the monkey over to the soldier and said, “Here ya go!”

My soldier loved that monkey. He took very good care of him. He even built a cage to let him sleep in. Made a bed out of ferns etc. The monkey got very attached to the soldier. They were real buddies.

However, some of the other soldiers didn’t like the monkey because he was coming to their tents and stealing food. One soldier got so angry he made a parachute for the monkey and threw him over a cliff.

This made my soldier very angry. He was depressed and missed his monkey. Then one day coming through the tents came that same monkey with the parachute still attached to him. He didn’t give up , and found his way back to his master.

This is just one interview of many I have done for the book , Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” The rest of the book are stories from my time in the military, and how I survived. Each chapter will talk about survival, especially for those who struggle with PTSD, TMI, Depression, Anxiety, War wounds, etc.

Check back here often to read more stories from veterans like yourself.

You can get these posts delivered to your email box by subscribing to the blog. Just click on the “Subscribe” icon at the top and go from there.

Are you are a veteran and wonder why things are happening to you that you aren’t pleased with? You certainly are not alone. I was there. Millions of other veterans were there. The important thing is to realize you need help. Too many of our brothers and sisters hide their feelings and become part of the 22 veteran suicides EVERY day. Do not let that happen. Get help!! The 24/7 help line is 1-800-273-8255 Press 1.

You need to also remember.

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…Never, ever, give up!