Before I get to a few Veterans Day items that came in today, I wanted to take a moment and personally thank all our vets...without your service and dedication to this country, I would not be able to do what I do. God Bless You All!
Republican Leader, my Congressman and a Great American -- John Boehner:“As the United States begins another peaceful transition of power from one President to another, we are once again reminded of how truly fortunate we are to live in a nation where such a monumental task seems so routine. On this Veterans’ Day, we take the time to remember and thank those who have made this and all of democracy’s gifts possible. The men and women who have proudly and selflessly served our nation in uniform – and those currently protecting us here at home and overseas – can look upon the events of the next 10 weeks and know that they have had a stake in preserving and defending the oldest and greatest democracy on Earth. We are in their debt, and we express our gratitude to them, and those who came before them, on this special day.”
From our good friends at Survivor Corps:Ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are creating a generation of veterans in the United States from all branches of the armed services and all 50 states who are struggling to overcome physical and psychosocial injuries. Most combat veterans convalescing in military hospitals across the country will survive physically, but getting on with their lives after returning home to their families and communities is proving a significant challenge for hundreds of thousands. Among the 1.6 million who have served since 2001, suicide is on the rise, as is unemployment and incidents of substance abuse and domestic violence.
The successful reintegration of returning service members is an issue that will have a long-lasting impact on American society, and may become the single defining struggle facing this new generation of veterans. Survivor Corps and its partners are determined to avoid the mistakes made when veterans returned from Vietnam, which resulted in tens of thousands of post-war suicides and over 200,000 men and women living on the streets.
To head off this tragic outcome, Survivor Corps will build peer support programs at the community level that will bring service members and veterans together for mutual support and encourage both individual responsibility and collective action to help others in need.
Survivor Corps is offering an alternative “treatment” that can be made readily available in all communities, regardless of proximity to traditional military or govern¬ment centers of support. Our approach is nimble enough to address the needs of individual survivors, while still broad enough to build a coalition of survivors and service providers working to effect long-term positive change.
This new program will help the recovery and reintegration of hundreds of thousands of returning U.S. service members at a critical time for them and their country.
Learn more about Survivor Corps and Operation Survivor by clicking here. And of course, we can't forget Project Promise.
