Tag: qualified counselors

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Things Happen While Deployed That are Hard to accept

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I told you in my last post that I was going to spend all this post talking about my new upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

This will be a complete recap of my last post I did on the book, which was about a month ago. Since that time the subscribing has increased by 300 followers.

The Outline:

The first section will be about my basic training. Lots of wild stories some funny. Some not so funny.

The second section will about being deployed to Korea. Much sadness, but some good times.

The third section will be about my time at FT. Bragg just before I left the military. One very scary story there and more funny stuff.

The fourth section will be full of interviews. I will have WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq interviews. Many of these will be very sad, but honest. I was even able to get a couple of funny ones in.

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It will be about 200 pages long. I start each chapter sharing my experiences, and then relate them to the reader. I have been working on this book for three years. Lots of research and making phone calls. Many of the interviews are from all over the United States. I am guessing I have about ten or more different states represented.

This will be a little short tonight as I am very tired today, and I need to get some rest. Still on lock down, and I don’t want to mess it up now that we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So before I go, let me know how you are doing my friend? Do you see hope?. Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

If not, do not worry, there are over 10,400 fellow veterans here, and they all have your back.

BUT, If you are overwhelmed right now with what is going on GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will not hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never give up!

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it.

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Not All Heroes are on the Front Lines. A Marine Saved a Life in California

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My last post a shared some sad stories about heroes who gave their all in WWII. Today I am wanting to share a more uplifting story about a hero that wasn’t on the front lines.

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A Marine’s quick thinking meant the difference between life and death for a motorist on an isolated desert road in California last year.

Capt. Stephen Alexander, the executive officer for the Marines’ recruiting station in Dallas, was driving through Elora, California on his way to the Marine Corps ball to celebrate the service’s 245th birthday when a vehicle going the other way lost control and flipped onto its side.

“Once the vehicle came to a final stop, I pulled over immediately,” Alexander said in a press release. The Marine was awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal in a ceremony in Texas on Dec. 11.

“There was a vehicle in front of me that also pulled over with [3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment] Marines,” said Alexander, who at the time of the incident was a first lieutenant with 3/4 stationed in California. “I’d never met them before; they were from a different company. We all ran over to the vehicle; at this point the vehicle was on its side and the driver was at the bottom and not coherent.”

The driver was unconscious and critically injured, and the Marines could not open any of the car doors due to the vehicle damage from the crash. Undeterred, one Marine broke through the back window while Alexander smashed through the windshield so that he could start applying trauma care.

“Once they smashed in the window I hopped in and started treating as many injuries as I could find,” Alexander said. “Every once and a while the driver would come back to consciousness and say he couldn’t breathe.”

There was no cell service in that part of the desert, and the nearest ranger station was about an hour away. The Marines would have to make do until help arrived. Alexander found that the driver’s leg was partially severed, so he used belts as tourniquets to stop the bleeding before another Marine provided an actual tourniquet.

“We came to Vegas with our dress blues, not tourniquets or our emergency field kits,” Alexander said. “Had the other Marines not been there, there’s no way I could have acquired the things needed to treat him. I would have tried my best, but there’s not a whole lot I could have done once I got in the vehicle had they not continued to provide whatever resources they could find.”

After about an hour, park rangers arrived, followed by a nurse who took over treatment for the driver. The nurse found that the driver also had a punctured lung which was causing his shortness in breath. After about two hours, a helicopter arrived to take the driver, but it couldn’t find a place to land. Luckily, an ambulance came by, at about the same time and Alexander moved the driver into it so he could get to a hospital.

A former infantry officer, Alexander had been trained for this sort of situation. But in the end, he said no amount of training can fully prepare you for the real thing.

“I think reacting to something like that, you either do or you don’t,” said Alexander. “There’s no Marines Hymn playing in the background as you run across the road; you just do something.”

Alexander himself suffered a traumatic brain injury which could have killed him just four months prior to the car accident. He never expected he would wind up treating a driver suffering the same injuries, he said in the release. Though he never found out what happened to the driver, the quick actions of Alexander and the other Marines deserve praise.

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There are many of these kind of stories I will be sharing in the future. But, my next post will be all about my new book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In an Out of the Trenches of Life.”

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How are you doing my friend? The rush of Christmas and the pandemic that doesn’t allows us to see family, and it can pull us down like a huge magnate.

Hope everything is going great for you, but if it isn’t, remember over 10,370 fellow veterans follow this site, and they all have your back.

However, if it is getting too overwhelming, GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. They have highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will not hang up until they know you are OK.

Don’t take on anything alone in this not so friendly world.

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it.

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The Great Generation Gave Their All so we Could Have Freedoms

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One thing we need tor remember is the sacrifice that our brothers and sisters had during WWII.

Here are two stories that are tragic, and we should be so thankful for their sacrifices.

  1. The Tester Brothers, New Victory, Tennessee.

What the Tester family enjoyed more than anything else was making music. On the front porch of their two story clapboard home- what became to be known as “the Old Home Place.” – Millard and Eliza Tester, along with their seven boys an two girls, would assemble a variety of fiddlers, banjos, and other instruments and play the music they learned growing up in the hills and valleys of Northeast Tennessee.

In December of 1943, a note arrived at the Old Home Place, informing the family that a telegram awaited them at the post office in near by Telford. It was Carroll Tester, the youngest of the siblings, and the only one still living at home, that had to go and get the telegram.

She brought the telegram to her mother who had just lost her husband to cancer the year before.

Three times Carroll made the trip to get telegrams, bringing back the sad news that another one of her older brothers had been killed in the war.

The last telegram arrived in January of 1945, and that was the day that music died. Carroll remembered the instruments in the closet that were the banjos, fiddles, and guitars were. They were never strummed again or played again. The memories were too painful of a time and a group of great brothers gone by.

2. The Preddy Brothers, Greensboro, NC.

“Are you sure the skinny kid can fly?” asked Col. John. C. Meyer when he saw the new pilot who had just arrived to join his 32nd Fighter Group in England. The skinny little kid was George E. Preddy, from Greensboro, N.C., and he certainly could fly. George went on to become one of the top P-15 fighter aces of WWII.

George’s younger brother, Bill, also became a decorated P-51 pilot, and both were killed by ground fire. George by friendly fire during the Battle of the Bulge, and Bill while strafing and enemy airfield in Czechoslovakia. in April 1945.

The greatest generation gave their all. They fought. They died, but because of them we are a free nation. NEVER FORGET!!

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I am very proud to say I am a veteran. I am sure you are too. We should never be ashamed of our service, no matter when we did it. You didn’t have to earn medals to be a hero. You were a hero the moment you took the oath.

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What’s up? How are you doing? The holiday rush is in full swing right now. It is hard to keep up with the rat race. All of this hustle and bustle can cause anyone to feel drug down like a magnate.

If you are feeling this way. Not to worry my friend. There are over 10,350 fellow veterans here who have you back.

If it is too much for you right now, GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will never hang up on you until they know you are OK.

Do not take on this unfriendly world alone!!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

________________________________________

+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it.