Category: PTSD

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Don’t Ever Give up !

Thanks to all of you who have been joining us here. The response has been wonderful .  We just past 3,255 new subscribers. That is a huge increase in 2015. We only had 1,000 a year ago. Help us to make it to 4,000.  Could you be the one that puts us over the top? Our goal for the end of this year is 6,000.

Help us continue to grow by subscribing today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post to do that.

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Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It will be reaching out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics. Doug sent off his mini proposal to an agent who is very interested in his concept. We will update you when we hear more. 

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It has been a while since I last posted here. Many different illnesses, and interference’s.
I am going to Cardio rehab on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I found that there were three veterans that were also in rehab. I found out their names, and got to know them.
Two of them were in Korea like I was. Another was a Vietnam veteran. It is very interesting that there are so many veterans who are having heart problems, but I haven’t pursued that thought yet.
As I got to know the men, we found that we each had different experiences that should be shared with other veterans. I took it on myself to set-up official interviews with each of the men.
I will share so of the conversations with you on later posts.

The book “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life,” Is nearing the finish line. Just a few new added chapters, and finishing up with the large amount of interviews I have lined up, and the book will be ready for publication.
I will give you a quick sneak preview of some of the interviews I have had so far. No names; no places. Just quotes from some of the veterans. I will be disclosing names and places in the book. (This is called a hook, in the writing industry!)
One WWII soldier told me the story of him being a tanker in the war and having a Japanese soldier tossing a grenade into their tank. He said his close buddy next to him was killed instantly. He was wounded. He received the Purple Heart, and another medal for bravery.
Another WWII soldier said he was wounded and lying on the battle field pretending he was dead, as the German soldiers checked to see if anyone was alive. He survived that horrible ordeal, and received the Purple Heart.
A Vietnam era Medic told me about holding soldiers in his arms while they died. He also told me one soldier asked him if he was scared, and he said, “Yes I am.”
Another Vietnam Navy veteran told me he watched in horror as his best friend’s helicopter, he was the pilot of, lifted off of the ship and then crashed into the ocean. It sank with all the soldiers trapped inside. The water was too deep to rescue them, so they all perished.
The first Iraq war left many soldiers with PTSD. I have interviewed some of them and their stories are heartbreaking.
All these interviews and many more will be in the book.
I was in the military. I was deployed just like many other soldiers. I was extremely lucky not to be in a war zone. Many other soldiers were not.
The book will cover deployments, spouses left behind; domestic violence in the military; loneliness; some humor; individual interviews from many of the soldiers who were in the trenches, and many personal stories.
If you are a veteran, and current person in the military, or even a family member/friend of someone in the military, I feel this book will be very beneficial to you.
I am not plugging this book for fame or money. I am plugging this book to reachout to all of those veterans and military who maybe hurting.
Here is a statistic that I want to change some how:

•There are 22 suicides a day among the veterans and military. It has never gone below that figure for several years.

Please, if you are military, or a veteran, stand strong. Know that many people are praying for you. Don’t give into the negative thoughts in your head. That is Satan talking to you, and he would love to add you to his trophy wall of people who gave up.

You are a person of much worth. God made you in His image. He loves you. Cling to His promises, which are:
•You are never alone.
•You are never forsaken.
•You are never unloved.

And I must add…. above all…never, ever, give up!

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Do Not Forget Our Military at Christmas

Thanks to all of you who have been joining us here. The response has been wonderful .  We just past 3,160 new subscribers. That is a huge increase in one year. We only had 1,000 a year ago. Help us to make it to 3,200. We are so close. We are only 65 subscribers away. Could you be the one that puts us over the top? Our goal for the end of this year is 3,500. We only  have 3 days left to make it. It will be your Christmas present to us.

Help us continue to grow by subscribing today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post to do that.

____________________________________________________________

Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It will be reaching out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides ever day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics. Doug sent off his mini proposal to an agent who is very interested in his concept. We will update you when we hear more. 

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It is only three more days until Christmas. Many of us have all our Christmas shopping done. The plans for the family gatherings are in place. There will be times of joy, sharing, and love, when the families get together.

Now, think about the people who are in the military and won’t be home with their loved ones. I had to go through that when I was serving my country in Korea. It was cold a dreary at the Christmas I spent with many other soldiers.

We did what we could to cheer each together up, but in the end, the emptiness and loneliness, crept into our souls, since we knew that our loved ones back home were spending quality time together, and we weren’t.

Don’t forget the thousands of military who are serving overseas right now. Pray for them, and keep them in your thoughts. I was told this very morning that there are 20,000 to 30,000 military just in Korea alone.

Have yourself a very Merry Christmas, but please do not forget those who are away helping us to have the freedom to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Remember if you are in the  military:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Many Military Had Loneliness While in Korea

Thanks to all of you who have been joining us here. The response has been wonderful .  We just past 3,135 new subscribers. That is a huge increase in one year. We only had 1,000 a year ago. Help us to make it to 3,200. We are so close. We are only 65 subscribers away. Could you be the one that puts us over the top? Our goal for the end of this year is 3,500. We only  have 22 days left to make it. It will be your Christmas present to us.

Help us continue to grow by subscribing today if you haven’t already. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post to do that.

____________________________________________________________

Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It will be reaching out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides ever day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics. Doug sent off his mini proposal to an agent who is very interested in his concept. We will update you when we hear more. 

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Well, I told you in my last post I would share with you more from one of the chapters in the new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.”

The one I have selected for today is talking about loneliness. One of the hardest things to adjust to and being alone quite often while you serve. This chapter talks about the loneliness I faced in Korea:

Loneliness in Korea

Many civilians do not understand how you can be lonely when you have so many other military around you.

It may be hard to understand, but all these other military are from all over the country, and do not relate to your needs to connect you to your home. They all have their owns worlds of loneliness from not hearing from their own loved ones.

There worst of my personal loneliness was while I was stationed in Korea. We were stationed on a small base called Camp Red Cloud. There weren’t a lot of military there. We were stationed there to keep the peace, and monitor the radio waves to make sure there were no breaches of security. We were the Army Security Agency.

Being there made me feel real isolated. I was in a foreign country  that didn’t speak my language.

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The chapter goes on how the people there didn’t even want us to be there. Some locals threw rocks at the military trucks as they went by.

I also mention that during my working long twelve hour working days,  I was stationed on top of hill 468 and I was the only one there. Talk about loneliness. The silence was deafening!

You were alone and couldn’t call down to the base for help. There wasn’t anyone to come.

During the shift and during of the silence you had time to think of home, about the girlfriend you left behind. You think about the fun times such as fishing in the lake near the farm where I grew up.

I share in the chapter how I made it through the loneliness, by writing a journal, reading tons of books, and writing real letters and send them home in the mail.

In the end of the chapter I share some thoughts on helping the reader through their loneliness:

” Loneliness is a direct cause of depression, and sadness. Try to fill your life in the military with things you enjoy. Don’t sit and think of negative things. Don’t hide from the world where you are stationed overseas. Find things to fill your day that will change your attitude, and give you hope.”

In the future posts I will share parts of other chapters to give you a feeling of what is printed.

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!