tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-544160750552722326.post2001656682619496772..comments2021-03-27T06:49:04.178-07:00Comments on Everyman's 21st Century Blog: Wounded Warriors: From addiction to well-beingRandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04037270846494437477noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-544160750552722326.post-52715761275014631442012-10-02T12:12:57.166-07:002012-10-02T12:12:57.166-07:00Randy and Matt, I think you're both honing in ...Randy and Matt, I think you're both honing in on one of the most crucial issues in America today: How can we separate honoring and caring for our veterans for what they've been through, from supporting an 'endless war' machine that squanders lives indiscriminately for political and economic gain.<br /><br />I don't have any simple answers, only the passionate conviction that it must be done, somehow. My sense is that the toxic Left/Right divide that mushroomed along with the Viet Nam war has festered into a vast reservoir of tribal rivalry and hatred, which blocks any possibility of effective cooperation. <br /><br />I think the strongest glue holding the endless war machine together is the rallying cry "Support Our Troops". Until the folks who want to stop this machine can act visibly, passionately in supporting veterans and their families in recovering from war, while just as visibly and publicly making the case for dismantling the machine, we will always be trumped by the yellow ribbon stickers.<br /><br />I made two moves in that direction in Humboldt County about a year ago. I started a FB page called "Humboldt Homecoming" with the intention of supporting local vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. I also made numerous pitches to bring a production called "Theater of War" here. This is an inter-active program which starts with a reading of a play by Sophocles about war, followed by dialog with a panel including veterans, their families, and health care professionals. <br /><br />http://www.outsidethewirellc.com/projects/theater-of-war/overview <br /><br />I gave up on both of these after about six months of underwhelmingly enthusiastic response, and haven't found the courage yet to try again.Bob Olofsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07318711697430671705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-544160750552722326.post-61813488256103478142012-09-29T23:18:48.992-07:002012-09-29T23:18:48.992-07:00Randy, I'm very supportive of the military and...Randy, I'm very supportive of the military and VA considering the use of non-medical treatments for wounded warriors with mental-emotional health issues. Whatever works should be available as an option!<br /><br />But I'm confused about your last two paragraphs. Are you saying that these former soldiers should somehow come to see and feel more fully that what they were doing during wartime was meaningful because it was truly in service to the greater good of the U.S. and/or the wider world? When vets tell us "War is hell," I think that many of them are expressing the fundamental disservice to the world that warmaking represents, even when the perceived cause is "just". And when they've been in numerous combat situations in which they could clearly see the uselessness of their particular military actions or even the clear lies that they and the U.S. public has been told about their conflict, it may be impossible to see any value in what they've done, even if they believed in their fight when they first entered it. Matt Nicodemushttp://www.graduationpledge.orgnoreply@blogger.com