To the Troops: We Need You, We Support You. We Thank you! 

Featured Charity: Hope for the Warriors

To All Veterans and current Enlisted Soldiers: Thank you for putting your lives on the lines for doing what you do so the rest of us can live under the freedoms your service allows!

Sadly, So many of those who put their lives on the line get their needs disregarded when its our turn to help them! Around 25% of veterans report having a service-connected disability. Common issues include musculoskeletal injuries and chronic pain. That’s one in four! Between 11-20% of veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF) suffer from PTSD in a given year. When considering veterans from all service eras, it's estimated that about 30% of Vietnam veterans, 12% of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans, and 15% of post-9/11 veterans experience PTSD. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports that about 41% of post-9/11 veterans who use VA healthcare have been diagnosed with a mental health or behavioral adjustment disorder.(Source: US Department of Veterans Affairs).

What’s Worse: Veterans are at a 50% higher risk of suicide than their peers who have not served. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). And about 1 in 15 Former Servicemen & women suffer from some sort of substance abuse; often attributed to their time in service. (Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse). For those who put their lives on the lines for all of us: We Must Do Better!!

Solution 1: We Must Provide fully-covered healthcare costs: physical and mental health costs for our heroes of service! While the VA currently offers free service for service-related issues, this must extend far beyond the VA offices for service-related issues; especially for our combat veterans who may experience a lifetime of issues due to their courageous service. Anyone who served our country should get free physical & mental health care: including but not limited to medicine, consultations & any required surgeries, for the rest of their lives!!

Solution 2: Between local affiliates & our FaceTime capabilities, we must make it an A-priority to offer both in-person and interface group meetings of veterans who’ve served their country. Shared Experience is often the best connection and whether such meetings occur in a church, an office setting, a bar or someone’s home, such connections should be localized to maximize the capabilities of all veterans having someone to reach out to in their times of struggle.

Solution 3: Related to the one above, but pen pals from empathetic people and/or children connecting veterans to people who appreciate their service can go a long way in validating their sacrifice. Human connection can restore faith in humanity for those who have seen & experienced the worst that humanity has to offer.

Solution 4: Jobs! Flippant as this may sound, human beings are often driven by a sense of purpose: this being especially true for servicemen & women. Jobs which entail duties learned in the service include but are in no way limited to security, management, police & firemen, discipline training for at-risk youth, and handy work requiring above-average strength from above average physical humans. It’s a great thing that US Employers ask if an applicant has served in the US Military, but it would be even better if such jobs were to reach out to veterans in their local area with opportunities to apply for positions within their companies.

This post was researched with and Assisted by ChatGPT.