But imagine how hard this holiday can be for those in military relationships. Perhaps this only sharpens the pain of missing their special someone.

It can be hard to reach across so much distance.

The truly tragic side of this terrible illness is that, with proper help, it could be manageable. But the government doesn’t always care for these soldiers, and often, sadly, the soldiers themselves refuse to seek treatment for fear of appearing “weak”.

Enter Pets2Vets.

Dave Sharpe served in the U.S. Air Force. Returning home, he had trouble adjusting to civilian life and felt that he had no one to turn to – no one to share his experiences in Iraq with. This took his toll on him. Before he knew it, he had started displaying violent tendencies. He would wake up in the middle of the night and punch holes in walls or kick down the refrigerator.

A friend took him to an animal shelter and Dave took home a pit bull puppy named Cheyenne. When he next lost his temper and began his violent rampage, he looked over at the young dog staring at him trustingly and broke down.

“I froze, I put down my drink, I picked her up and laid with her in my bed,” he [Sharpe] said. “I cried and I told her the whole story. I didn’t feel judged.” (source)

Given the extraordinary love and support that Cheyenne gave him, Sharpe was inspired to reach out to his fellow vets. He started the organization Pets2Vets. Pets2Vets has the goal to raise awareness of PTSD and to arrange dog adoptions for veterans suffering form the disorder. With these new pets, the veterans have something outside themselves to focus on – a dependent that won’t judge them and will listen to every word said to them.

While family certainly is an important part of the healing process, so often the responsibilities of family can put pressure on the PTSD sufferer – even if that pressure is only imagined. The dogs provide that comfort needed without any strings attached. Just total  love and admiration.

Pets2Vets is still a fledgling operation, but David Sharpe has already seen results. He has hopes to continue to expand across the DC area and soon across the whole country. He also hopes to expand to encompass, not only war veterans, but police, firemen, rescue personnel, and any others who may have emotional trauma.

If you know anyone who may benefit from this organization, or just want more information about it, head over to the Pets2Vets website.

The picture says it all. Former soldier Shaun Clark made a promise to tattoo the name of every soldier lost in Afghanistan, and he’s holding true to that promise. He now has 232 names permanently inked onto his back.

Mr Clark, who served with the 8th Battalion Light Infantry Regiment from 1989 to 1996, was waiting in the tattooist’s chair at 11am this morning to carry out his painful pledge.

The first name was etched on his body just as the traditional Armistice Day two-minute silence began.

He said: ‘I don’t mind suffering for a few days if I can let the lads know that people really care about what they’re doing out there, and raise some money for the guys coming home wounded as well.

‘The family thought I was mad to begin with, but they’ve come round to the idea now, and my wife is backing me all the way.’

The married father-of-two from Doncaster hopes his challenge will raise £500 for the charity Help for Heroes.

He plans on updating the sombre list every year on Remembrance Day if required.

Before his ordeal began, Mr Clark said: ‘It’s going to be painful business but it’s nothing compared to what the troops are going through every single day on the front line.’

He added: ‘I know it’s a bit extreme covering the top half of your body front and back with 223 names, but it’s my way of honouring all those men and women and it’ll be there as a memorial for as long as I live.’
Mr Clark

Mr Clark hopes to raise £500 for Help4Heroes through his ordeal

Mr Clark said: ‘I wanted to do something to raise money for the heroes who still need help and to honour the memory of the fallen.

‘I’ve still lots of friends from my days in the Army over in Afghanistan and there’s lots of Donny lads out there as well.

‘Lots of people do things to raise money but I wanted to do something different and something permanent.

‘It’s not just about raising money – it’s also about letting these lads know that people care about what they’re doing.’ (DailyMail.co.uk)

But with gain comes loss. Even though women are serving alongside their male peers, the old ideas and concepts of who can be a warrior still hold. These preconceptions lead both the military and civilians to treat these brave women differently than their male counterparts, despite the fact that both sexes are experiencing the same events and participating equally in the field.

The NY Times had a thoughtful article about women and their roles in the military. It also faces the ever present problem of PTSD in our soldiers, and the unique problems that arise when the condition arises in female soldiers. Overall, men and women experience PTSD almost exactly the same, but the way society treats the sufferer varies drastically between the sexes.

Perhaps it is time to put aside these archaic preconceptions and make sure that we treat our returning soldiers with respect and care – all of out soldiers, both men and women.

…In Iraq and Afghanistan, the military has quietly sidestepped regulations that bar women from jobs in ground combat. With commanders needing resources in wars without front lines, women have found themselves fighting on dusty roads and darkened outposts in ways that were never imagined by their parents or publicly authorized by Congress. And they have distinguished themselves in the field.

Psychologically, it seems, they are emerging as equals. Officials with the Department of Defense said that initial studies of male and female veterans with similar time outside the relative security of bases in Iraq showed that mental health issues arose in roughly the same proportion for members of each sex, though research continues.

“Female soldiers are actually handling and dealing with the stress of combat as well as male soldiers are,” said Col. Carl Castro, director of the Military Operational Research Program at the Department of Defense. “When I look at the data, I see nothing to counter that point.”

And yet, experts and veterans say, the circumstances of military life and the way women are received when they return home have created differences in how they cope. A man, for instance, may come home and drink to oblivion with his war buddies while a woman — often after having been the only woman in her unit — is more likely to suffer alone.

Scenes from Afghanistan: The Sacramento Bee

A young man by the name of Matthew Weston was serving in Afghanistan when he had the most unfortunate experience of stepping on an IED (improvised explosive device). Amazingly he survived the incident, but it cost him both of his legs, his right arm, and most of his hearing. He has been labeled “the most seriously injured soldier to survive the conflict in Afghanistan.” Disabled at the young age of 20 years. His initial prospect of surviving his injuries wasn’t good, and his family was encouraged to prepare for the worst. Matt pulled through, and his family is thrilled just to have him around – never mind his life-changing injuries.

But apparently there are others who don’t feel this joy. Ever since returning to his home in Britain, Matt has been the subject of taunts and jeers. Teenagers have been hurling insults at him regarding his loss of limbs from the IED. How can they be so heartless? The article has examples of the awful words that Matt has been hearing coming from these terrible teenage lips.
She [Matt's mother] said: ‘When we took him out people said things like “Haven’t you forgotten something? Oh yeah, your legs.”

‘One shouted at him “If you didn’t want to be blown up, don’t go to war.” It’s disgusting.’
Disgusting is right. These insults reveal a mindset of misinformation in these youth. Perhaps they (or more likely, their parents) don’t agree with the political reasons that young soldiers are being sent overseas. Or perhaps these kids are anti-military. But these aren’t reasons (or excuses) to verbally abuse those who have chosen to show their patriotism by signing on with military factions. These soldiers felt it was right to join, enough said. I commend them for that.

So when a soldier comes home wounded, physically or emotionally, we owe them every bit of support that we can give them.

Is there anything more horrific than burying a loved one felled in a war?  Perhaps. Some families of those who have fought overseas have never received closure in the form of their loved ones’ remains or even a small personal memento.  In 1947, having calculated that the whereabouts of 78,750 American soldiers remained unknown after World War II, the United States Air Force dedicated the third Friday of every September as POW/MIA Recognition Day.

Over the course of the next six decades, the number of missing warriors rose.  The Korean War claimed 8,051; Viet Nam, 1,742.  The Cold War took another 165 and the Gulf War, 7.  To date, the sole American soldier missing in Iraq is Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie.  These numbers do not include personnel killed in action and never brought home.

JPAC (Joint POW-MIA Accounting) is the governmental organization charged with the daunting task of locating, identifying, and returning to their native soil the aforementioned service men and women.  Housed in Hawaii, JPAC has been headed, since 2008, by Rear Admiral Donna L. Crisp.  Colonel John M. Sullivan serves as Deputy Commander, Johnnie E. Webb as Deputy Public Relations-Legislation Affairs, Sergeant  Major Jackie D. Brown Jr. as Command Senior Enlisted Leader, and Dr. Thomas D. Holland as Scientific Deputy Director for the Central Identification Lab.  In addition to these officers are teams dedicated to search and retrieval missions, comprising archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, and deontologists.  A quick second read of those job titles is indicative of the enormity of JPAC’s objectives.

…On the third Friday in September, the State of New Jersey honors its POW-MIA‘s with a breakfast sponsored by Assemblymen Jack Conners and Herb Conaway.  These public officials invite veterans from all over the state to join in a memorial ceremony dedicated to the men and women who never made it home from the wars.  Honored Guests at the 2008 event included WWII POW veteran Joseph O’Donnell, Mrs. Judith Young, who is a Past President of the “Gold Star Mothers,” Mrs. Anna Marko of Cherry Hill, an 84 year old widow of WWII POW Leon Marko, State Adjutant General Glenn Reith, Colonel Stephan Abel, and other veteran dignitaries.

Read the rest of the article…

It’s not uncommon for these severe injuries to cause depression in the unfortunate recipient. They often feel useless, and dislike being dependant on others for basic needs. It can be a struggle to find things to be positive about.

Among other activites, one wonderful outlet has been the Paralympics. It can help motivate people and give them something to focus on. Previously, the attendance of the Paralympics has not included many military personnel, but there is hope of changing that scenario.

The Paralympics, held since 1988 at the same site as the Olympic Games, typically feature only a few veterans. The USOC wants to increase military participation, especially given the number of disabled young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and the advances in prosthetic and other medical technology that make sports more accessible and comfortable for those with amputations or other disabling injuries. The Paralympics grew out of a competition in England in 1948 for injured World War II veterans.

“Disability sports improve so many things,” said Mitch Carr, RIC’s fitness, sports and recreation director. “It keeps weight under control and reduces secondary conditions that develop because of a sedentary lifestyle. Then there’s the social impact and improvement in self-confidence.”

The rest of the article has the stories of men and women who have received tremndous benefits from participating in the Paralympics.