Yes, this is Diary #2 in the WJJCMH series dedicated to welcoming our Iraq II veterans as they Come Marching Home. For those of you who did not catch Diary #1 in this series (nearly everyone who is reading this I would guess), please check out WJJCMH #1 for some details on what this is all about. But for the Cliff Notes version, this diary series is about welcoming and helping our returning troops. It is about making the DailyKos community aware of their plight and asking for whatever assistance you can provide to our returning vets., evening if its only a welcome home hand shake to a returning soldier in your community.
I hope you will join me after the jump /\ where I will go into more detail and highlight this week’s veteran who needs assistance. But if not you need to move on (perfectly understandable in these busy times), please at least take a look at USATOGETHER, a fabulous site which helps unite people who want to help our troops with individual soldiers who need our help.
Around 100,000 troops will be returning home over the months to come. But what will they be coming home to? Rampant unemployment, homelessness, divorce, etc. Many will come back with physical impairments and/or mental impairments (e.g.,PTSD) which will enhance the difficulties they will face as they try to re-integrate into civilian society. While many of us here in the DailyKos community and throughout the country have taken on (and won) the political battles necessary to end our occupation of Iraq and BRING OUR TROOPS HOME, I wonder if after all our work to get them home, will we simply ignore them as they return? That is my concern and my motivation in this diary series which is meant to draw attention to the plight of our men and women returning from Iraq. Sure the Government will help many through the Office of Veterans Affairs, especially under an Obama administration. But government can only do so much, and often the needs of our veterans goes beyond what government can do.
Many will need a job, especially those in the national guard and reserve who will immediately be thrust back into civilian life. Finding a job as a returning vet. is difficult enough during good times, but I shouldn’t have to tell you how extremely difficult, to borderline impossible it will be in this crappy economy. Many will need housing, having either lost their home to the mortgage mess while they were away or simply having to seek an apartment to rent for the first time on limited, if any income. Many will need continued medical care and home assistance for physical wounds. While the VA does a good job in this respect with regard to wheel chairs, prosthetics, and general medical care, these disabled troop are still in need of day to day living assistance. Many will need psychological care for PTSD and other mental problems caused by the tragedies of war that they have witnessed and only they can understand. Many will need emotional support for the loss of a loved one while they were gone, or a marriage that ended under the strain of long deployments.
So I am asking the DailyKos family to not forget our troops as they return. If you know or indirectly know a returning soldier in your home town or on your city block, reach out to him/her. Call them or send an E-mail to them or their family. Offer a friendly hand shake, a warm smile, a thoughtful hug, and a simple "Welcome Home" as you pass them on the street. Find out what their needs are, and offer whatever assistance you can, even if its simply to help point the in the right direction towards where they can find what they need.
If you do not know a returning vet., another way you can help is to visit the web site USATOGETHER that I mentioned above the fold. It is a private citizen based site that attempts to unite injured vets. who have specific needs for goods and/or financial assistance, with those of us who have and our willing to provide such assistance. While we all have to be aware of scam sites on the web, this one seems legit since its founder was interviewed on NPR. So while I can’t provide any guarantee, I’m comfortable with it.
Although some soldiers are in need of a little financial support for their families, others are looking for new or used goods like a washer or a baby’s crib, which you may simply trying to get rid of anyway. There are also a number of other similar sites set up to help our troops which you can check out through the USATOGETHER site or by going directly to sites like SOLDIERS ANGELS, HEROES TO HOMETOWNS, and MILITARY CONNECTION. Also, if you know of a veteran who needs assistance, please alert him/her to the USATOGETHER site and these other sites where he/she can post their story and their needs so the country as a community can help them. If they do not have access to a computer or are not "internet savvy" you can offer to post for them, I think that’s allowed.
Now, before I get to highlighting this weeks veteran, I thought I would look in on last weeks Vet.-of-the-Week to see how things were going. He is Steven Brockman (Army E-4) and unfortunately it appears that he is still looking for employment in the Tallahassee, Florida area. So if you have a line on a job in that area or would like to read his story, please check out WJJCMH #1 or go directly to USATOGETHER.
Now for my WJJCMH Vet.-of-the-Week!
He is Iraq II Veteran:
Name : Bjorn B
Service Branch: Army
Rank: Spc.
Current Address: Bedford, Ma. 01730
Here is his story, in his own words:
I was born In Germany on a military base. I played soccer in highschool and then decided to join the US Army to serve my country and to play soccer. In June of 2001, at the age of 18, I joined the Army as an infantry man. My initial deployment was from 2001-2002; I was deployed to Kandahar, Afganistan with the 82nd airborne. In September of 2007 I was deployed to Baghdad Iraq with the Rhode Island National Guard. Due to my deployment in Baghdad, I suffered from major PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) issues. Since being home in September of 2008 I have lost my job and my apartment. Since November I have been in an intensive inpatient treatment program at the hospital for severe combat related PTSD.
Bjorn’s Request:
I am behind on my monthly car payments (259.32). My current amount due including missed payments and late fees is 1016.19. If I can not pay this, I am in danger of losing my car.
Bjorn is currently $800 away from the $1000 he needs to keep his car. He is looking for any financial help he can get,nomatter how small.
If you can help Bjorn, or know someone who can, please visit USATOGETHER and give him some support and/or send him a message of encouragement and let him know we appreciate his service to our country, through the comment feature on USATOGETHER.
Thanks for reading this diary. Even if it does not make the Rec. list, which it won’t, I hope it stays up long enough to result in help for our returning Iraq II Veterans.
Peace All!