Aug

22

HEALING REUNIONS

Filed Under Events, Healing, Life, PTSD, Tears of a Warrior 

by Tony & Janet Seahorn

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         The corn is high, tasseled and almost ready to cut. Traveling through Nebraska we pass miles and miles of these tall stalks waving in the wind and looking like a legion of green sentries welcoming visitors. For the second year in a row we are returning to the Nebraska Vietnam Veteran Annual Reunion as guest speakers. It is the twenty-seventh year the gathering has been held and the attendees grow each time. Every person is welcomed… veterans, spouses, family members, and friends. Besides Nebraska, they travel from South Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming, and Colorado.

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            These reunions are not just reminiscing about the vet’s combat experience. They are more on being with others who have traveled a familiar road, have endured a similar past, and have formed new friendships, gained new understandings of their war events, and lived a life of service to their families and communities. The days are filled with celebrations of being – being with old buddies and new friends, being with other spouses to laugh and cry, and being in their beloved state to appreciate that this land is exactly what they fought, died, and suffered for decades earlier. Since they had no parades or welcoming ceremonies when they returned from Vietnam, they created their own event commemorating their service.

 nvvr-photo Hanging around over four hundred veterans and their families, one observes and learns   many lessons and here are just a few:

  1. 1. There really is healing in numbers.
  2. 2. One does not have to do the journey after combat alone. He/she has a huge posse to support the trip.
  3. If one person falls, there are many who care enough to pick him up, brush him off, and kick him in the butt to keep going.
  4. The pain and memories of combat may never go away but these memories/pain do not have to consume the entire life of the individual. Each person must make the choice to move forward in spite of their wounds.
  5. There is still joy in living each day.
  6. Laughter (and food) really is the best medicine.
  7. A good sense of humor gets you through a lot of grief.

 

            And last, this special quote that we used during our workshop to support each vet and their family’s continued healing.

 

“The key thing to get inside the head of a PTSD suffering vet is this: If one of your buddies was lying wounded on the battlefield, you’d carry him to safety at all costs, right? Well this time, the vet wounded in his soul is the guy in the mirror, AND IT’S YOUR DUTY to carry this one more vet to help. He’s hurting because he’s a human that’s gone through an inhuman experience.  Your buddies who didn’t make it back want one thing only – for one of you to make it, namely YOU.  Your victory is saving that vet in the mirror, helping him forgive himself for being only human ( Roland Van Deusen).”

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