First of all, the answer is "Yes." We do still have many people deployed to the Middle East. There is a misperception by some that because U.S. troops have been removed from Iraq that we have all of our military men and women safely home. That could not be further from the truth.
MOTS is serving the same amount of local deployed troops this month as we have in recent months. The next Packing Party for the Troops is being held on Saturday at 9 a.m. if you would like to help send some love in a box to our men and women far from home.
"Knit One, Pray Too": A Venice Presbyterian Church group, has knitted more than 50 skull caps for our troops. I met with 21 members last week and they were so in tune with the true heartaches that our fighting troops and their families are going through.
Find out what's happening in Bradentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Several women had deployed sons and shared some personal stories. The one that sticks in my mind is that of a woman's young son driving a fuel truck. He had orders to speed through a small village, as a fuel truck is seen as a large potential bomb. On his rapid run through the small main street his vehicle hit and killed a toddler. That image haunted him actively for more than a year. Only time takes away some of the sting of what soldiers have to do during their dangerous tours.
As a mother or father, how do we help our child to live with these memories? I went to Books-a-Million today to find some literature to share with those I meet with this very question. To my surprise I was told that that is a "specialty" area of books and they don't carry any. Really? I can find books about any war, any faith, any murder but I can't find a self-help book on coping with PTSD or Traumatic Brain Injury.
Find out what's happening in Bradentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
I have gone to Amazon.com and ordered some that seem appropriate but I still wonder why local bookstores consider this a specialty item. Families coping with PTSD and Brain Trauma is a harsh reality as more and more troops come home every day. I hope it's not a sign that we are burying our heads in the sand as these problems are not going to magically disappear. We must stand behind our warriors and their families, during and after the war.
