Tag: Signs of Hope

Posted on

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.

___________________________________________________________-

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.

Posted on

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!

Posted on

New Exciting Book for Veterans Coming

I have decided to talk to you directly this evening. I have been sharing Military news for several months, and I just wanted you to get to know me a little better. 

I am a veteran who served in the Army from 1959-1962. I had my basic training at Fort Ord, California, Which is now closed, and I was deployed to South Korea. I then was stationed at Ft Bragg, North Carolina until my discharge. 

I have many stories of my time in the military, and I am announcing that I have a book about the  military coming this next summer, called, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

Here is an outline of what will be in the book:

  1. I will have stories from my time in the military, with each story ending with my thoughts on how you and I can be stronger, and face the civilian world better. 
  2. I will share some times and problems I had in South Korea. One was very hard in that two of my buddies and I enlisted together, and only two came back. 
  3. Then I will share one of my most frightening days of my life while at Ft Bragg. 
  4. The next section of the book will be full of interviews with actual veterans from all over this country. They will be sad stories, happy stories, or just plain frightening stories. 
  5. There will an actual letter sent home to a mom from 1944. 
  6. The final section will be full of resources for veterans. I have done a thorough search and put them all together for your use. 

It has taken more than three years to put this book together, because I keep finding more things that I feel should be in it. I have a publisher that is interested, and I have and editor who has been editing the book. 

Reason I wrote the book:

I have spent years and years floating this book around in my head. I got started writing when my first book was published called, Signs of Hope: Ways to Survive in an Unfriendly World. It was actually good therapy for me because I was writing it from journals I had been writing every day for over ten years. I saw my hurts, and my joys, and put them down on paper. The book won a national award from the Readers Favorite Awards. That helped me realize that I had  writing abilities. 

As I went through the journal again, just to make sure I covered everything, and I saw that many of the hurts were from my military days. The loneliness, fears, anxiety, depression, etc.  I thought that I need to write directly to my fellow veterans and give them hope. 

I will keep you posted here on my author as to the progress. So be sure to subscribe so that you will get the post delivered to you mail box. All you need to do is click on the subscribe icon, and fill it out. 

Stay tuned for the latest

In closing, I want to reach out to each of you right now. Are you fighting with the world? Do you have bouts of depression, anxiety, PTSD, TBI, etc? I have been there with you. I suggest you fight back as hard as you can. Never give up!! There is  a toll free number you can call if you need immediate help at: 

(877-247-4645)

Remember:

You are never alone. 

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all….Never, ever, give up!!