Tag: self-doubt

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There Are many Battles Soldiers Face, but the worst one is Depression

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Military news….

New legislation opens the door for Marine veterans to file lawsuits over contaminated water at Camp Lejeune
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 allows veterans, families and other individuals who worked or lived on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune to sue for harm and exposure to contaminated water.

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New missiles, drones part of biggest-ever US military aid package to Ukraine
The new $2.98 billion package will allow the U.S. to supply Ukraine with air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems and radars.

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Battle for Kyiv: Ukrainian valor, Russian blunders combined to save the capital

Even as Ukraine’s political leaders downplayed the likelihood of a full invasion, the country’s military took critical steps to withstand Russia’s initial assault.

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US aircraft, artillery pound militants in Syria after rocket attack

U.S. forces struck back with airstrikes and artillery, killing at least four Iranian-backed militants in response to rocket attacks in Syria that injured three Americans.

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Army’s training center in Alaska first in line for new cold-weather vehiclesSoldiers at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, will be the first to receive the Army’s new Arctic-capable vehicle late next year.

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Construction Set to Begin on First US Coast Guard Museum

A special keel-laying ceremony was held on Friday at the museum’s riverfront site in New London, Connecticut, about 40 miles south of Providence, Rhode Island.

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Active Military Member Mows Veterans’ Lawns for Free

Master Sergeant Chad Emrick put a call out on social media offering free lawn care service to veterans so they could take pride in their yard and celebrate the summer holidays. He said sometimes veterans have even reached out to him for help with handyman jobs or to just talk and connect.

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I an sharing another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of life. This chapter is about what many of us faced while in the military. It is called depression.

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Move out of Your Home Called Depression

So many people (19 Million in the United States) are silently struggling with depression or related demons. The depression rate in the military is very high as well. People do not do anything about it. It leaves them eventually because the person dies.

How can we get off this train of despair? Why do we let depression overtake us? Shouldn’t we be happy with our family friends, and love ones around us? Is there a way to climb out of the dreadful trench and have a productive life?

Now that I have made you also feel depressed, let me share some thoughts with you, and see if you can see any light at the end of the tunnel.

1.  People seem to think that they will be embarrassed if they let someone know they are depressed. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Don’t you think your close family and friends would jump in to help you faster than a cat on a hot tin roof if they knew you were hurting? Of course they would! Stop closing the door on others and wallowing in your own pity. Let people, and other soldiers, become your support system to get you out of your despair.

2.   Why do we let depression overtake us? Because we become very vulnerable to the dark side, and loneliness of life when we have something go wrong. We can’t just keep going as if nothing ever happened. We either deal with it, or we crash, like I did.

3.   Depression has many names by the way. It hides under the names of self-doubt, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, and self-pity. They all are different names, but they are all symptoms of the Big Kahuna depression. All of those nasty critters push us into the lake of the muck and mire, and we can’t seem to stay afloat. Don’t let this villain ambush you! Keep your eyes on the bright side of life, and not on the dark side.

4.  With today’s modern technology, you can connect with your family no matter where you are in the world. I have used Skype, Face Time (I-Phones,) and speaker phones to get as many people as I can, talking to each other and feeling accepted.

5.   I just did that recently when we had a birthday party for my granddaughter.  My son, who is the Uncle of my granddaughter, couldn’t make it. We did a video connect through I-Box of all things. My son was able to wish my granddaughter happy birthday, and talk with all of us. This was a new one for me.  (You are never too old to learn new tricks.)

     Unlike the dark ages when we couldn’t connect with technology at all, you can see and talk to anyone you want and get the feeling you are right at home with them.

              The bottom line:

      Tell the bad guys to get out of Dodge. Let the good guys come in and help you ride off into the sunset of peace together.

IWILL

Often depression is caused by people or happenings around us. We need to stand strong through these unexpected walls we face. More often than not each time we are faced with something like this it is because we are already fighting a battle within us. We need to be aware of depression that is coming on, and withstand the feelings through positive thinking.

Think about this

Isn’t it interesting how we feel someone is trying to hurt our feelings when they really aren’t?

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Is everything going OK, or are you fighting back memories?


FEAR NOT!


There are over 15,219 Veterans on this site who have your back.


If you are battling mentally, but you are losing, GET HELP!!


Here is a toll free number that you can call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will not hang up until they know you are OK.
1-800-273-8255…texting 838255.

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Remember:


You are never alone.


You are never forsaken.


You are never unloved.


And above all…never, ever, give up.

+Now there is an easier way to get help. Just dial 988, and you will have help ready for you.

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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 from this site, please let them know.

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Twenty-two veterans Take Their Own Lives Every Day Because of Depression

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Military news…

Actor, director and Hollywood icon Denzel Washington is the “Honorary Sergeant Major of the Army” for 2021.

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Veterans made headlines this summer for working together to bring home stranded Afghan allies, but they are also doing the same for deported U.S. veterans.

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The Army’s new missile-hauling Stryker was fired for the first time ever in Europe by soldiers assigned to the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

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Every sandwich is a sub sandwich if it has classified submarine info in it. Case in point: Federal prosecutors accused Navy vet Jonathan Toebbe of trying to sell sensitive information about the nuclear reactors for Virginia-class submarines by hiding a SanDisk inside a peanut butter sandwich.

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin must resign over his handling of the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, writes retired Marine Col. Andrew Milburn. Having served in Afghanistan as a special operations officer and having seen Secretary Austin’s career up close, Andrew is particularly well-qualified to weigh in on the subject.

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One of the military’s top cybersecurity generals wants to get rid of the Common Access Card. Used to enter buildings, log onto computers and even enter the chow hall, CACs are one of the few things nearly all service members have had in common over the past 20 years.

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Here is another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

Move Out of Your Home Called Depression

So many people(over 19 million,) are silently struggling with depression or related demons. The depression rate in the military is very high as well. People do not do anything about it. It leaves them eventually because the person dies.

How can we get off this train of despair? Why do we let depression overtake us? Shouldn’t we be happy with our family and friends, and our loved ones around us? Is there a way to climb out of this dreadful trench and have a productive life?

Now that I made you also feel depressed. Let me share some thoughts with you, and see if you can see any light at the end of the tunnel.

  1. People seem to think that they will be embarrassed if they let someone know they are depressed. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Don’t you think your close family and friends would jump in to help you faster that a cat on a ot tin roof, if they knew you were hurting? Of course they would! Stop closing the door on others and be wallowing in your own self pity. Let people, and other soldiers, become your support system to get you out of your despair.
  2. Why do we let depression overtakes us? Because we become very vulnerable to the dark side when something goes wrong. We can’t just keep going on as if nothing ever happened. We either deal with it, or we crash like I did.
  3. Depression has many names by the way. It hides under the names of self-doubt, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, and self-pity. They are all different names, but they are all systems of the Big Kahuna depression. All of these nasty critters push us to into the lake of muck and mire, and we can’t seem to stay afloat. Don’t let this villian ambush you! Keep you eyes on the bight side of life, and not the dark side.
  4. With today’s modern technology, you can connect with your family no matter where you are in the world. I have used Skype, facetime, (I-Phones) Zoom, and speaker phones ot get as many people as I can. We talk and feel accepted.
  5. I just did that recently when I had a birthday party for my granddaughter. My son, who is the uncle of my granddaughter, couldn’t make it. We did a video connect through I-Box of all things. My son was able to wish my granddaughter happy birthday, and talk to all of us.

Unlike the dark ages when we couldn’t connect with technology at all, you can see and talk to anyone you want to get the feeling you are right there with them.

The Bottom line…

Tell the bad guys to get out of Dodge. Let the good guys come in and help you ride off tinto the sunset of peace.

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There is more to this chapter, but I will tease you into to buying the book to find out more.

You can come back and see more excerpts. Better yet… go to the top of this page and click on“Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will come directly to you inbox.

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Bed check…

How are you doing? Does it seem overwhelming at times. Do you feel the darkside lurking around you?

FEAR NOT!

There are 13,250 fellow veterans here who have your back.

But! It is just too much for you right now. GET HELP!

Here is a toll free nmber to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will not hang up until they know you are Ok.

1-800-273-8255…texting 838255.

__________________________________________

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 from this site, please let them know

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A Veteran Shares His Frustration of What the Leadership of Our Country is Doing

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Military news…

What follows is not from me. It is an opinion from a veteran. I agree with everything he says:

‘White hot rage’: America’s veterans are ashamed of Biden’s ugly retreat from Afghanistan

Last week was a searing experience for many veterans. We watched a dissembling commander in chief smear Afghans who fought and died for their country (the Afghan National Security Forces suffered more casualties this year alone than the United States did in our 20-year campaign).

We watched him trot out a focus-grouped phrase — “the buck stops here” — while dodging actual responsibility and casting blame everywhere but at his own door. We watched a secretary of Defense mumble about doing our best to rescue Americans and allies caught within the tightening grip of a barbaric enemy.

We watched him trot out a focus-grouped phrase — “the buck stops here” — while dodging actual responsibility and casting blame everywhere but at his own door. We watched a secretary of Defense mumble about doing our best to rescue Americans and allies caught within the tightening grip of a barbaric enemy.

He cautioned the United Kingdom from ever again depending on the decisions of a single ally. Other NATO allies also have questioned the actions of the United States and their ability to rely on us.

If the goal of the Biden administration was to prove that “America is back,” we have established exactly the opposite.

I had the privilege last week to engage with an ad hoc network of Americans coordinating to help individual Afghans navigate the gauntlet to safety. One of them, a 28-year-old single woman whose support for America resulted in Taliban visits to her home and threats on her phone, had applied for a special immigrant visa. The State Department lost her application. She traveled with a man who was an SIV visa holder and a family of nine, all with U.S. visas.

Over six interminable hours, we monitored and relayed communications, praying and urging as they reported surging crowds, debilitating heat, Taliban checkpoints and, finally, tear gas and chaos at the airport gate.

The family turned back. A child’s leg was crushed in the crowd. The grandmother fainted from the heat.

Finally, the message from our contact inside, coming after midnight: “We got them!!!” and the note that their voices were “the definition of pure joy.”

This effort ran outside of official channels. Individuals on the ground took personal risk to bend the rules, identifying targets and snatching them into the gates. Other networks of veterans have spun up to assist refugees past Taliban checkpoints using satellite imagery. Dedicated Americans flooded the zone to plug the gaps in a broken government process.

The sacred creed in the combat arms is “no one left behind.” Combat warriors can bear any risk and carry through harrowing odds so long as they know that they will never be abandoned.

Afghan forces fought and died

There were reasonable arguments for leaving Afghanistan. There are valid critiques of the Afghan government and the competence of the National Defense Force. But there can never be an excuse for the casual, wholesale dismissal of people who fought and died alongside us for years. “They didn’t fight for their own country” is a calumny belied by 50,000 ANSDF casualties and by the tens of thousands who served by supporting our operations and working with us to build a civil society.

Anyone who has traveled downrange, relying on that creed, has been horrified by a feckless retreat from a sacred obligation. We withdrew all logistical, technical, operational and intelligence support from the ANSDF, and we messaged relentlessly for months that they were entirely on their own. We stole out of Bagram Airfield in the dark of night. And we pointed at the collapse of morale to say: “See, of course they failed.”

We abandoned a generation of Afghans to the brutality of the Taliban. To their torture, executions, stonings and beheadings. We left them to witness their daughters peeled off as “wives” of mujahedeen.

Veterans are hurting now

I know many veterans who have been shattered and horrified by this past week. My own emotional state has swung from utter despair to white hot rage. I have lashed out at friends. A combat veteran friend spoke of wanting to renounce his citizenship.

Some have compared this to a modern-day Dunkirk. The key difference is that Winston Churchill exhorted a shattered nation to summon the courage and will to persevere through the darkest hour.

Our commander in chief has presented a false choice (our footprint over the past few years has been less than our mission in Djibouti). He has slandered those who risked everything at our side, and he has lied about the presence of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations in country.

We have abandoned our only air base in central Asia, on the doorstep of China, Russia and Iran.

His national security team has ceded initiative to the enemy and stranded our troops and allies in an indefensible position, where a mishap or attack will seal tens of thousands into an Alamo in the Hindu Kush.

If you know a veteran, reach out. Many of us are hurting right now. Many are watching a nation consumed with bread and circuses as they question the costs they paid and wondering whether their fellow citizens were worth it after all.

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Thirteen American military service members were killed and another 18 troops were wounded on Thursday in suicide bombings near Kabul’s international airport in Afghanistan. The two explosions also killed dozens of Afghans and wounded many more. The top American commander in the Middle East believes the Islamic State group is responsible.

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While Biden plans his retaliation, U.S. troops still in Afghanistan are bracing for additional attacks. The attacks may come in the form of rockets, more suicide bombings, or small arms fire, but the U.S. has acquired an unexpected ally in thwarting the attacks. The Taliban.

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My view…

In my view there are three evil forces now in Kabul. The Taliban. Al Qaida, and ISIS. They are all fighting against one another and our troops are right in the middle

I have this deep feeling that the Taliban does not like this and may become an ally with the U.S.

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I need to remind you again that I have stopped sharing excerpts with you from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: IN and Out of the Trenches of life.

If you wish to read some of them you will have to check in the archives to find them.

To avoid missing some excerpts in the future you need to subscribe today. Just go up to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will directly to your inbox.

________________________________

Checking in…

How are you doing? Are the events in Afghanistan overwhelming you?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 12.870 fellow veterans here who have your back.

However, if you are having trouble, GETHELP!!

Here is a toll free number for you 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…texting 838255.

__________________________________

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 from this site, please let them know.