Survivors of War

I've never been in the military. I don't know what it feels like to return from war. I had students that served in Gulf War 1 and they told me of the difficulties it presented to them. War brings with it many consequences, consequences that often persist for the rest of one's life. These consequences could be physical -- a lost limb or loss of hearing -- or it could be psychological. Over the last year we heard how many of our military and veterans hospitals were below proper standards. That is a travesty -- whether you support a war or not, the young men and women who are sent into a war zone and come back injured should be given proper care.

Recently I was contacted and asked to post for a group called Survivor Corps. I hadn't heard about them, but they are a group seeking to right this wrong. You ought to check them out.

Here is information about this group:

US Program: Operation Survivor

Since October 2001, more than 1.6 million Americans have served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 30,000 have returned with physical wounds, but many more return with invisible injuries, including an estimated 620,000 men and women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and/or major depressive disorder. Recent reports also suggest an increase in rates of alcoholism, substance abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and suicide among returning servicemen and women. These traumatic effects of war, left unaddressed, will have far-reaching negative consequences for service members, their families, and their communities.

Survivor Corps launched Operation Survivor in 2008 to help American service members returning home from war. This program enables these brave men and women to overcome the debilitating effects of trauma and to reintegrate into their families and communities.

Operation Survivor currently includes three initiatives:

* Community-based Partnerships in Peer Support –We are training organizations to connect those affected by war so that they may better overcome trauma and injury, reconnect with their families, and contribute to their communities. This approach, known as peer support, is based on the understanding that the best help comes from someone who has been through a similar experience.

* SurvivorNet – We are building an online community of support that will connect service members to peers with a shared experience, using survivor hosted blogs, innovative social networking, and links to additional resources.

* Convene Government, Business, and Nonprofit Institutions– No single organization can fully address the homecoming of so many. A collaborative approach is needed. Survivor Corps is bringing together, for the first time, leaders from across sectors to work together on a better approach to the healthy reintegration of returning troops. Learn More.


For more insight into the difficult process of reintegration after war, read Before and after Iraq by Micheal Hastings for the L.A. Times.

Send a message of support to returning troops and their families.


Contact Information

Scott Quilty
Survivor Corps U.S. Program Manager
2100 M St. NW Suite 302
Washington DC 20037
Ph: 202.250.3946
F: 202.464.0011
squilty@survivorcorps.org



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