help for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

Dear Concerned Citizens, Would you contribute $5 to help a veteran fight for reform on Capitol Hill? In just 10 days, over two dozen Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will deploy to Washington, D.C. for IAVA's 5th annual Storm the Hill trip - an historic week of meetings with over 100 members of Congress. Here's where you come in. Can you pitch in to help get them the supplies they need? The vets will be meeting face-to-face with the White House, the VA, the Department of Defense, and members of Congress to present our legislative priority for 2010: reforming the VA's archaic disability claims system. Right now, some wounded warriors are waiting up to two years for disability benefits - that is unacceptable. Click here to contribute towards the trip - $5 can pay for transportation between meetings, and with $10, you can pay for one of their meals. Two years ago, this trip was focused on getting a new G.I. Bill. And that passed. Last year, we focused on securing advance funding for the VA. Now, that's a reality as well. Click here to make a donation towards Storm the Hill, and help write this year's success story. The men and women going to Storm the Hill aren't lobbyists or politicians. They're members of our nation's newest generation of heroes, and along with veterans across the country, they're counting on you to help us win this fight. Thank you for standing with us. Sincerely, Paul Paul Rieckhoff Executive Director & Founder Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

Martin Luther King Jr. speaking for Vietnam Veterans

This very brief excerpt is from a speech given on 4 April 1967 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr. He courageously spoke out against the wisdom of the Vietnam war. In support of the troops and the people on both sides but asking the government to reconsider the destructive actions they were forcing these men and women to take.

"I am as deeply concerned about our own troops there as anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are submitting them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalizing process that goes on in any war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved."

The rest of that speech can be found here...

A healing process was given momentum at the moment he spoke those words. Due to his popularity, it brought about an awareness. It also voiced an unpopular viewpoint. One shared by many but voiced by few. Remember, people were still being jailed for this kind of dissidence. But as he said when quoting the opening lines from the aims of an organization called 'Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam.'

" "A time comes when silence is betrayal." And that time has come for us in relation to Vietnam."

His influence can certainly be seen in the difference of the public opinion towards returning veterans today. The soldiers of the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan have experienced a much different welcoming home than those from Vietnam.

The awareness of PTSD is also higher, it can be found on any nightly news channel, just about any night. So the time is ripe for getting this information into the hands of the people who need it the most. The veterans, family and friends of veterans. The suicide rate is off the charts and growing for the returning combat soldiers.

These new healing techniques may look wacky and you might wonder how they can possibly help, but traditional therapies just aren't working for enough veterans, fast enough. VA hospitals are overrun and underfunded. The advantage of many of these techniques is that they can be done at home, with books, tapes, on the phone or with a local practitioner. I encourage you to go thru these posts and find something that might work for you or someone you love!

So I'll leave you with...

"And if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of peace.

If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."