What do you think when you see terms like PTSD or TBI? For me the response it always elicits is a combination of anger and frustration — then I get sad. Sad for the men and women, some only 18, heart broken for the families and sick to my stomach for the bright futures that were lost. Then I flip back to anger and frustration.
We send the best and brightest out to do the ultimate task, defending our country and freedom, and then we forget about them. We, as Americans, shove them in corners, tell them to snap out of it, go pick up the pieces, you’re too strong to fall apart and so much more. Then maybe we tell them to go to the VA. Here is this hospital just for you. It’s amazing, it will fix you, it will make you normal, you can re-enter society.
But first, I need you to fill out this form, get me some letters and go sit..and sit…and do it some more…just keep sitting…and our service men and women do. For some that is all they can do…sit…and hear the sounds of war, screams of pain, horrible thoughts running through their heads, and then they reach out. This time they are not reaching out for help. They are still sitting and waiting for that. No, this time they reach for a gun and point it at their heads — 22 veterans do this every day and the number is rising. Now there is no more sitting, no more waiting, the pain is finally gone, or is it? No, the pain just transferred to their families and friends who watched them sit and could do nothing to help. Until now.
Now we have hope and opportunity to help the families of the fallen and those still suffering thanks to Always Brothers which was founded in 2011. It started as a challenge on Facebook, and as anyone who knows a Marine they never say no to a challenge.
On Aug. 11, 2011 they had a memorial run for one of their fallen brothers, Capt. Tyler B Swisher. Part of the mission was to raise funds for his family. They ran 100 miles to his graveside at Arlington National Cemetery. After this run they reflected and decided there was a bigger issue. The issue was the lack of support from the government for military families that have lost someone in the line of duty. Those who committed suicide in response to military experience are considered line of duty deaths for Always Brothers. They held their second run in the spring of 2012 for Lima Company. Saturday and Sunday is their third run and they are doing it right here.
We are so lucky to have the opportunity to support these runners and most importantly the families of the Fallen Soldiers. This years run will honor the fallen US service men and women from Washington state.
In talking to Dan Neilsen, a lawyer who lives in Maple Valley, a Marine and vice president for Always Brothers, we struggled with naming each individual because we did not want to exclude those who lost their lives as a result of the invisible wounds. Consequently, Always Brothers reached out to the Gold Star Mothers of Washington and other media outlets to inform the communities that Always Brothers would run in honor of their fallen loved ones so they would know that we have not forgotten about their sacrifice.
Instead of creating a separate list of those individuals, we invite you to take a look at the names and the biographies of the men and women we will honor on the Time of Remembrance website: http://www.timeofremembrance.org/
The beneficiary of this years fundraising efforts is One Mind for Research, http://1mind4research.org. This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to coordinating funding and research for the treatment of brain disease. If you are interested in donating or cheering this amazing group on please visit www.alwaysbrothers.org. They do leave from Leschi at 0600 — that’s 6 a.m. — and anticipate arriving at Cedar River Trail head across from Foley’s around 12:30 p.m. They are also in need of water and Gatorade along the route and those donations can be dropped off at Thrive Community Fitness.
It truly was an honor to talk to and receive information from Dan and Tanya Neilsen and Storm McNeil who are all local residents and will be participating in the run. I look forward to cheering you and all the other runners on and cannot thank you enough for all that your organization does to help our fallen military personnel. One of my greatest hopes is that we will not have another soldier, airman, sailor or marine die because she or he was not able to get the help they deserved because they could not sit and wait any longer.
For additional Information on PTSD and TBI please visit http://maketheconnection.net/symptoms/all.aspx and remember, PTSD is not just associated with Veterans. It can affect us all.
