Golf for good, and it's PTSD Awareness Month

If you’re a golfer looking to do some good on the links, consider participating in Operation Delta Dog’s golf tournament, coming up June 20. Click here for information and register by this coming Friday.

Delta Dog reminded me just now that June is PTSD Awareness month. My dad served in the Korean War and while I believe he spent his tour of duty in Hawaii, away from combat, I was reminded of him last night. We were watching “Niagara,” starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotten. JC plays a Korean War vet with PTSD, only they called it a “crack-up” back then (is that preferable to WWI’s “shell-shocked?”). Marilyn is a pretty rotten character in the movie, and it’s all pretty gloomy (but well done, and shot on location). But it’s just a terrible reminder of what war leaves of people’s minds and souls.

In other PTSD news, the Military Times reports:

A much-anticipated Veterans Affairs Department study into the effectiveness of service dogs for treating post-traumatic stress disorder will restart in the coming months with veterans receiving dog care training in anticipation of being paired with an animal.

The study, “Can Service Dogs Improve Activity and Quality of Life in Veterans With PTSD?” will include 220 veterans, half teamed with a dog trained to address their disability, and the rest paired with an emotional support dog — basically, a pet or companion that has passed a rigorous obedience course but is not specifically trained to perform tasks to mitigate PTSD.

Read more here. ‘Bout time.