From Moyers Journal, May 23, 2009
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05222009/transcript4.htmlResources for Veterans and Families below
BILL MOYERS: Finally, this week, my friend Louis Bickford spends his days, and often his nights, on the healing and prevention of atrocities and crimes against humanity. Cruelty, horror, and misery are part of his portfolio at the International Center for Transitional Justice, along with the power of memory.
On The Huffington Post, Louis has an essay in which he says that Memorial Day is meant to remind us of the hardship of war. But he goes on to ask, "What does it mean to choose how to remember?" What does it say about us, for example, if "...we choose to remember the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, more in terms of heroism than error..." This, he reminds us, is the "...tendency of all nations."
Louis got me to thinking that when we meditate on war this weekend - our recent wars that is - will we overlook the suicides? Sweep under history's rug the recent murder in Iraq of five American soldiers by a comrade who may have been driven mad by the horrors around him? Will we forget the death from friendly fire of a Pat Tillman and the shameful cover-up by the brass, including the role of the very general who now heads our operations in Afghanistan?
What of all those villagers killed by drones remotely fired in our name? Why aren't they part of the narrative we tell ourselves about war? Louis Bickford wonders if we'll ever remember, "...that there was a place called Abu Ghraib on the dusty outskirts of Baghdad, and that torture took place there, for which we were responsible?" After all, he says, it was the complicity of Republicans, Democrats, journalists and lawyers - some of them scholars - that allowed us to ignore international and American law prohibiting torture.
Over some 40 years now it has seemed to me that as time goes by we tend to remember wars, and the suffering they bring, as if they were inevitable, natural acts of history, rather than politically inspired choices. But war, as was famously said, is politics by another means - the lethal legacy of failed leadership, enabled, even ennobled, by propaganda, the partisan opiate of politics. It is good to be reminded, as my friend Louis so eloquently reminds us, that war is too important to forget, and that's one reason to observe Memorial Day. There is another - to hold before our face a mirror, so that we might see the images of war reflected in our own eyes.
Louis Bickford
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/louis-bickford/memory-war-and-the-memory_b_205972.htmlIf former officials succeed in making us forget that there was torture and that it was contrary to our values, they will establish impunity for the present and also for the future. That must not be allowed to happen. Extreme violations of human rights in any context, including a war, are too important to forget. We want future generations to remember that we insisted on accountability for them. Those are good reasons to have Memorial Day.
Go to
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05222009/veterans.html for more details, links and resource map
-----Government Resources
http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/The Veterans Benefits Administration, in partnership with the Veterans Health Administration and the National Cemetery Administration, provides benefits and services to veterans and their families in recognition of their service.
http://www.defenselink.mil/U.S. Department of Defense
The Defense Department is a comprehensive source for current news on the U.S. Armed Services and provides resources for the families of service members.
http://veterans.house.gov/index.htmThe House Committee on Veterans' Affairs reviews veterans' programs, examines current laws, and reports bills and amendments to strengthen existing laws concerning veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), such as for health care, disability compensation, GI bill education and job training, home loan guarantees, life insurance policies, and a nationwide system of veterans' cemeteries.
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was created within the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, in response to a Congressional mandate to address the needs of veterans with military-related PTSD.
http://www.loc.gov/vets/Veterans History Project
A Project of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. The Project relies on volunteers to collect and preserve stories of wartime service.
-----Non-Government Resources
http://iava.org/Founded in June 2004, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the troops and veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those troops and veterans.
http://communityofveterans.org/Community of Veterans
Online community for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Provides advice on navigating the Veterans Administration.
http://www.nchv.org/index.cfmFounded in 1990 by a group of community-based homeless veteran service providers, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) seeks to eliminate homelessness in the veteran community, serving as a liaison between branches of the federal government and community-based homeless veteran service providers.
http://www.newdirectionsinc.org/An estimated 27,000 homeless veterans live in Los Angeles, possibly due to the country's largest VA hospital and the mild climate. Many suffer from drug and alcohol abuse. Some suffer from both substance abuse and mental illness. New Directions, Inc., a long-term drug and alcohol treatment program, provides food, shelter and rehabilitation to homeless veterans at four locations.
http://www.vfw.org/
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
is the oldest nonprofit veterans service organization, serving as a voice for veterans and a catalyst for change in improving veterans' benefits through community service programs and special projects.
http://www.returningveterans.com/Returning Veterans Resource Project NW is a nonprofit organization comprised of politically unaffiliated and independent mental health professionals who offer free and confidential counseling to veterans and their families of past and current Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns." Provides direct assistance in finding therapists specifically trained to talk with veterans.
http://www.militarywidows.org/THE SOCIETY OF MILITARY WIDOWS (SMW) was founded in 1968 by Theresa (Tess) Alexander to serve the interests of women whose husbands died while on active military duty, of a service-connected illness, or during disability or regular retirement from the armed forces.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/
FRONTLINE: The Soldier's Heart
Web site for the FRONTLINE documentary about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and returning Iraq War veterans. The site includes extensive interviews with military and medical experts, a literary history of combat stress and other readings, a reporter's diary and other resources.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/vietnam/
Remembering Vietnam: An Online Newshour Special Report
This special report commemorates the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War with links to Online Newshour articles and interviews about Vietnam.
http://www.pbs.org/now/society/vetmap.html
Veterans Resource Map
Find Veteran resources for all fifty states, compiled by NOW WITH BILL MOYERS in 2002.
http://www.guardfamily.org/Public/Application/ResourceFinderSearch.aspx
The Internet has made getting and giving aid to deployed troops a bit easier. Families can get the phone numbers and email addresses of family readiness and family assistance centers from the New York National Guard's Web site, which maintains a national database. In addition, local National Guard units maintain their own presences online with resources for soldiers and families. For example, the New York State Military Family Program offers child care help and marriage enrichment seminars.
:patriot: :loveya: :cry: :yourock: :grouphug:
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